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FBI Finds Explosive Material At Attacker's Houston Home; Speakership Vote A Test Of Trump's Influence Over Congressional GOP; Major Storm Poised To Bring Season's Most Significant Blow Yet. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired January 03, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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


[07:30:00]

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We were able to speak with a neighbor of the suspect who talked about having seen the white pickup truck in front of their home just before he left for New Orleans -- left the Houston area. In fact, that neighbor told us that he had spoken with the suspect, and he said that he was moving to Louisiana because he had found a new job there.

This is some of what that neighbor told us yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUMTAZ BASHIR, NEIGHBOR: Moving away -- he was moving. He was moving to Louisiana yesterday. I asked him if he needed help for moving. I would help him out as a neighbor. Do you need any help for moving things around? And he said, "I'm OK."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: So that neighbor last saw the suspect on the morning of -- on Tuesday morning -- New Year's Eve morning just hours before he would make the drive from Houston to New Orleans.

And a source also tells CNN John that inside the home as investigators were searching that they did find chemicals that were used to create an explosive device, John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Ed Lavandera in Houston with all these new details. Ed, thank you very much -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We're also hearing from survivors of the horrifying attack on Bourbon Street. Many witnesses had to run for their lives that night as the truck plowed through Bourbon Street. You see that happening right there in front of you. Many narrowly missing the path of the truck.

Jeremi Sensky, who uses a wheelchair, described to CNN's Anderson Cooper the moment that he was struck by that truck.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEREMI SENSKY, INJURED IN BOURBON STREET ATTACK: I was, like, trying to figure out what was wrong with my leg, and I saw this stuff around me, which was parts of my wheelchair. So I started scraping it trying to find my phone and I really couldn't tell what was what. So I tried to get my phone. I wanted to use the phone. I was going to call my wife and tell her I was alive.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Your leg -- you were -- I mean, you were bleeding.

SENSKY: I was -- I think that I was bleeding but I -- it was my -- my leg was just broke, like, into a bunch of different pieces.

COOPER: There's a photograph taken from overhead where the truck is and you are -- you're on the ground.

SENSKY: Yeah, and the truck was to my right.

COOPER: So did you -- you heard shots. Did you see anything around you?

SENSKY: No, I didn't see anything. Like -- and I was screaming help, help, help, help. And finally a guy came over and said listen, you're allowed to be -- you're lucky to be alive. And he said many people aren't as lucky as you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Wow.

Witnesses that night were left traumatized by the carnage they saw. I spoke with two witnesses yesterday who saw the carnage from their balcony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNICA, WITNESSED BOURBON STREET ATTACK: All we could do is stand by and watch. And to see immediately dead bodies laying in the street in both directions is something that nobody should have to see in the beginning of the new year. It's heart-wrenching.

PAUL, WITNESSED BOURBON STREET ATTACK: Yeah. When we get back home, we'll have to take it day-by-day. But there's no doubt we're going to have to go find some counseling for this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Paul and Annica are just two of many witnesses left to cope with the trauma of that night.

Joining me now is Dr. Erika Rajo, a trauma psychologist who is treating those surviving victims of the Bourbon Street attack. Thank you so much for joining us.

What are you hearing from the victims? What are they -- what are they saying to you?

DR. ERIKA RAJO, TRAUMA PSYCHOLOGIST TREATING NEW ORLEANS ATTACK VICTIMS (via Webex by Cisco): Yes, hi. Thank you so much for having me.

We're seeing a lot of acute stress responses as one would imagine. Intrusive -- some people are having intrusive thoughts about what happened. A lot of grief and mourning. Some people are having physical symptoms. A lot of people are reminded of the trauma from TV or just being in New Orleans. A lot of reminders around right now.

SIDNER: We've heard -- just like Annica and Paul, we've heard from a number of witnesses that they will never be able to unhear the screams or unsee the terrible visions of what happened that day.

How do you begin to sort of help someone through this trauma?

RAJO: Yeah. Well, right now we have a team of mental health professionals who are going around checking in with the families. We've been doing this since the start. We've been there for the families as they were at the hospital looking for their loved ones. We've been there for them at their side while they're finding out where their loved ones are and if their loved ones survived. And also, we're in the hospital at the bedside of the patients who have been injured and helped.

Just right now it's about holding space and meeting them exactly where they're at, allowing them to process any aspects of this horrific event and providing them with the resources that they need to start the healing process.

[07:35:00]

And sometimes that might look like financial assistance if they're worried about disruptions in their work or maybe that's a place to stay if they're from out of town. There's a lot of secondary stressors that come out of a traumatic event as well.

SIDNER: What are some of the coping mechanisms that you have tried to impart to those going through this? And not only those who are the victims but those who witnessed this as well and are the sort of psychological victims of all of this.

RAJO: Yeah, that's a great question. So a lot of times when we're meeting with survivors, we're asking them about existing strengths and coping skills that they have because a lot of people come in very resilient, and they have skills, and they have strengths that have helped them get through other challenges.

And then we remind them that they have those within them, but we also want to support them by adding to their coping skills. We're doing a lot of deep breathing right now just helping people stabilize and regulate their bodies and their minds.

SIDNER: The work you're doing is so incredibly important because this will last for a lot of people a lifetime after seeing what they saw and going through what they did.

Dr. Erika Rajo, thank you so much for coming on this morning. I really appreciate it -- John.

RAJO: Yes. Thank you so much.

BERMAN: All right. Happening now, House Speaker Mike Johnson might only have that title a few more hours. His job hangs in the balance as the House votes on a new speaker today. Johnson can likely only afford to lose a single vote, so this is tight. He does have the backing of President-elect Trump who cannot be pleased with all of this drama.

Let's get to CNN's Steve Contorno in Florida. So what's the president- elect doing about this this morning, Steve?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: John, if you think about every single move Donald Trump has made since he won election last -- or two months ago, it has been with the idea that he wanted to hit the ground running as quickly as possible on January 20.

He has quickly named his cabinet. He has put together his team. He has laid out his agenda. And so he does not want a protracted speaker fight to get in the way of him acting very swiftly sooner after taking office nor does he want a Speaker of the House who would potentially be learning on the job.

And that's why you have seen him come out with his full-throated endorsement of Mike Johnson to continue on as House Speaker. You look at what he posted earlier this week on social media saying that "Mike has my complete and total endorsement," calling him "a good, hardworking, religious man."

And now in the final moments before this vote we have also seen Trump reach out to some of those Republican holdouts -- potential conservatives and others who have doubts in Mike Johnson and are concerned about the direction of the Republican Conference under his leadership.

Trump saying that he was willing to even go out and speak to people like Republican Chip Roy of Texas, one of those individuals who has been skeptical of Mike Johnson, and really trying to take the steps and be involved this time, not wanting to see a repeat of what happened a few years ago when he sort of stood on the sidelines and allowed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to go down.

But remember, a lot of the people who caused the ruckus last time were Trump loyalists and people who were acting, in part, on behalf -- or they believed on behalf of Donald Trump's agenda. This time it's some other individuals who Trump has had less influence over who have said they are not in line with Speaker Johnson.

People like Thomas Massie of Kentucky who has been at times a critic of Trump and someone who actually endorsed Trump's opponent in the primary, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

So it'll be interesting to see what sort of sway he has over some of these potential holdouts and whether he can help get Mike Johnson over the finish line.

BERMAN: All right, Steve Contorno in Florida where some of this is kind of taking place today.

With us now is May Mailman, former associate counsel for the Trump administration, and Bryan Lanza, a senior adviser to the Trump 2024 campaign.

All right, Bryan, prediction time. What happens to Mike Johnson today and how long will it take?

BRYAN LANZA, SENIOR ADVISER TO TRUMP 2024 CAMPAIGN: First of all, good morning, and thank you for having me.

I think there's a strong probability that Mike Johnson doesn't survive the night. And part of it is he has President Trump's support and he's making phone calls, but the president hasn't had a tremendous amount of success when it comes to the speaker votes, right?

You know, he got 100 percent behind Jim Jordan after McCarthy lost last time and that wasn't enough to move him across the finish line. And Jordan was a -- was a super ally to President Trump.

[07:40:03]

So I think Speaker Johnson, if he loses the first vote it's indicative that he'll lose the rest. And specifically if the media draws the narrative that Speaker Johnson lost legislatively the last couple of years, he's lost at the ballot box with losing two congressional seats during his term, and now he's losing the speaker.

So it's like the losing narrative is something that President Trump wants to avoid, and you've seen it in a tweet when he referred to him as a winner. But I think if the losing narrative comes forward after the first vote it'll be very hard for President Trump to keep him.

BERMAN: All right, that's a little more glass half empty than I was expecting this morning.

So, May, how about you? What's your prediction for what happens to Johnson and how long it will take?

MAY MAILMAN, FORMER ASSOCIATE COUNSEL, TRUMP ADMINISTRATION (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah. I mean, if you read conservative Twitter then I guess I'm a little bit pessimistic. But I still think that ultimately, I'm optimistic.

I think you lose Thomas Massie who wears a deficit clock on his body at all times and who is never going to support anybody who would be able to pass a budget. But other than that, you have President Trump -- you have a lot of big names supporting Mike Johnson, and for a good reason.

Mike Johnson is a good man, a conservative man. And if the desire is for him to be more organized or to have a plan, or to pass a budget that the Senate would never pass then you can have that. You can do that. He'll do that.

But at the end of the day you see every single Democrat is going to vote against Mike Johnson, and that should tell you something. That means that the Democrats know who Mike Johnson. That he is with the Republicans and that he is with President Trump. And if the Democrats know that then hopefully the Republicans can know that too.

And so I have high hopes for Mike Johnson.

BERMAN: I will say on these speaker votes you really never see people cross party lines there. So the Democratic behavior may not be indicative of much other than the fact that they're Democrats this morning.

I want to play some sound. We had Nicole Malliotakis, the Republican member of Congress who represents New York's Staten Island, on yesterday. On some things may be seen as more -- I don't -- I use the word "moderate" here. I'm sure she would object to that. But maybe a more mainstream Republican member.

This is what she had to say about the situation and those who might oppose Johnson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-NY): The members who are holdouts -- they're not -- they're not being reasonable when they think that we can govern without some type of negotiation and without some type of bipartisanship, and that's part of the problem.

They want everything. They want all or nothing and they're willing to risk our majority and the Congress over it, and I think that's the wrong approach. Every relationship, every government, every business requires some type of (audio gap) negotiation, and that's where they need to be reasonable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So openness to negotiate with Democrats. You're smiling, Bryan. Why?

LANZA: I think that's the challenge that the speaker's always going to have, right? It's what is their appeal? How much are they going to rely on Democrats and do these things?

But I think the broader challenge that Johnson has and the frustration that House members have is they have his last two -- or his last year of leadership as the speaker. Like I said, he's lost two seats, which is -- which is very disruptive to the caucus. His whole point is bringing back those members. He's losing legislatively and I think President Trump felt a lot of that this last November. I think people are worried about the agenda going forward and they want it to be successful.

I do think though that if Johnson were to -- you know, I don't think he survives the night. But I do think they can resolve this pretty quickly. It's not like a new leader is going to emerge in this conversation. We know what the options are and we know who ultimately can deliver, and it just matters what President Trump chooses post- Johnson.

I think he has the ability to put his thumb on the scale in some respects, but I think he has more of the ability to kill whoever sticks their head out and who he doesn't approve of. And I think that's going to be more indicative of who the next speaker is going to be.

BERMAN: I'm still surprised that Bryan Lanza is talking about post- Johnson already a few hours before this vote takes place. Again, I didn't really have that on my bingo card.

So, May, this is supposed to be the honeymoon period. I mean, things have never almost been better for elected Republicans, at least not for a long time.

So what does it tell you that this kind of relative chaos can be happening even in what should be the best of times?

MAILMAN: Yeah. Only Republicans can end Republicans' own honeymoon, and that's why Speaker Johnson is the right choice.

We're talking a lot about after Johnson. Who is after Johnson? Thomas Massie won't tell you who the next person is. Chip Roy won't tell you who the next person is. Matt Gaetz, now from the sidelines, won't tell you who the next person is. And so that's the thing.

We have an opportunity -- a historic opportunity to deliver on the promise that Trump campaigned on -- border security, tax cuts, reducing inflation. All of this requires a Congress. You cannot have a Congress if you do not have a speaker, and you do not have a plan.

[07:45:00]

And so Mike Johnson is the person. He is able to deliver on President Trump's promise. He was unable before. There was -- there were not votes in the Senate. It was a disaster, I will -- I will admit. But this is an opportunity and it's time to seize that opportunity.

BERMAN: He's going to need a narrow margin in the House.

OK, so Bryan, May was just saying Gaetz, and Roy, and Massie won't tell you who besides Johnson. Will you? If it's not Mike Johnson, who do you think could be the House Speaker?

LANZA: Listen, I think anybody in leadership right now can step up -- any chairman.

Look, I think the challenge is people have lost trust -- and this isn't me talking and I'm certainly not representing the campaign. You sort of represent what we hear from members.

You know, they've lost confidence in Johnson. So when you've lost confidence in Johnson what can President Trump do to restore that confidence? He made some calls. Whether he was successful or not we will know later today. But it goes back to the point that if he loses the first one it becomes very hard for him to keep it, especially if the narrative is that he's losing.

Now, there's going to be alternatives. I mean, once he's sidelined and once he's moved on -- and that's not -- and that is disastrous for the Republican Party, but once that happens, and I do believe it ultimately will happen, people will emerge. Leaders emerge in these particular moments. Trump's going to have a choice in this.

And I think the agenda moves forward. I don't think Johnson is the impediment to Trump's agenda because he's not -- because he's not speaker. I actually think Trump's the -- or Johnson is the impediment to Trump's agenda because he is speaker, and he is so structurally weak as speaker he can't deliver it. And so now you're going to members who are against Johnson negotiating with the president directly.

You know, Trump saw what that experience was his first term. He saw when he had to deal with Meadows. He saw when he had to deal with Jordan. He saw how disruptive they were and how they had to negotiate with him directly because at that point Paul Ryan was a weak speaker.

He doesn't want to go through that chaos again. We know what that script looks like and it's a bad script for President Trump.

BERMAN: All right, May Mailman, Bryan Lanza. Speaker Johnson, if you're watching, that's Bryan Lanza right there. Call him.

All right, appreciate your time, guys -- Sara.

SIDNER: Nice, John.

All right, get ready for a winter blast. Snow, ice, and dangerous conditions are on the way for millions of people over the next few days. And that's not all -- there's more. Thunderstorms, tornadoes and an ice storm also could be in the mix.

Meteorologist Elisa Raffa is tracking the forecast this morning. All right, where does this all begin?

ELISA RAFFA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We're going to be busy over the weekend. Some of this could start Saturday night, but a lot of it really blows up Sunday into Monday.

We're talking about major impacts across Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana. All of that red is major impacts. Difficult to nearly impossible travel. Heavy and blowing snow. Significant ice that could cause power outages.

We have winter storm watches in effect across this entire area. It stretches almost 900 miles and we're expecting this to expand as the storm continues to develop. All of these alerts will be needed to the east as well.

So you can see it starts to try to come together on Saturday, but that moisture really starts to feed in, and it pumps that storm on Sunday. There is some cold air trying to squeeze in from the north, so that's where you're going to get this really heavy band of snow and this ice that could really be a significant problem when it comes to power outages and downed trees.

A cold rain and even some storms along the Gulf Coast. And all of this heads east on Monday. We could be looking at some snow even in Washington, D.C. This spreads into the mid-Atlantic.

This ice could really be a problem. It could be significant. We could be looking at a quarter to a half an inch of ice across parts of Missouri and Illinois. And this would cause problems with down trees and power lines. Power outages definitely a concern here.

A little bit farther to the north where you have colder air that's a little bit deeper, you get more of that snow. Some of this snow could be really heavy -- six to 12 inches. Some spots over a foot. Tack on the winds and you've got low visibility and blowing snow.

So you have the winter part to the north and then to the south you have rain and even some storms. We actually have a severe risk for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas. A lot of these places already recovering from a tornado outbreak last weekend. And we could be looking at damaging winds and a couple more tornadoes -- Sara.

SIDNER: That is a lot, and I know you'll be tracking it. Elisa Raffa, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

All right. Ahead, a fiery explosion after a small plane crashed into a furniture warehouse. Look at that. What happened to the plane that caused this terrifying and deadly scene.

And why America's most decorated gymnast may not compete in the 2028 Olympics.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:54:30]

SIDNER: The stock market's post-pandemic boom has been record- breaking, but -- and there's always a but -- while millions enjoyed growing portfolios, some financial experts are raising red flags.

CNN's Matt Egan is here. Matt, why are some investors worried about the market's gains? It has been a blockbuster year.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, Sara, it really has been. And I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer on this Friday morning.

SIDNER: Um-hum.

[07:55:00]

EGAN: There -- I'm not. There are -- there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the 2025 economy, right? Gas prices are in check.

SIDNER: Yeah.

EGAN: There's no recession in check -- in sight, and paychecks are going up faster than prices.

But markets are a clear risk more so than in the past in part because yes, they've gone up so much. And kind of like when you're on a ladder, the higher up you are the more you have to fall.

Last year alone the S&P 500 increased in value by $10 trillion. That was just last year. The market is up by 20 percent or more in back-to- back years. We haven't seen that since the late 1990s under Bill Clinton.

And so that is great, of course, for people with money in the market --

SIDNER: Yeah.

EGAN: -- but there are these concerns that maybe this is starting to get out of hand. That perhaps the price tags on some parts of the market is becoming untethered to reality.

SIDNER: Yeah.

EGAN: UBS --

SIDNER: Yeah.

EGAN: -- the Wall Street bank, even warned its clients recently that six out of the seven preconditions for a market bubble already exist, including the fact that there hasn't been a bubble in a quarter of a century. That retail investors are participating, and that there's this time is different mentality around technology stocks. They say that we're not in a bubble yet, but they think there's a 35 percent chance that we're going to get there.

Moody's economist Mark Zandi told me that he hasn't been this concerned about markets being overvalued since the late 1990s just before the bursting of the dot.com bubble. He doesn't think there's going to be anything like that kind of a crash, but he's worried about a drop that is so severe that it endangers the underlying economy.

Imagine a scenario where markets go down and people shop less, including higher income Americans. That would have a real impact on the economy.

SIDNER: What exactly would cause the market to stumble? I know you have mentioned the Magnificent Seven. Those are the tech stocks that have basically lifted this market like we haven't seen in a very long time.

EGAN: Right. And Sara, that is one of the key risks here because there's a world where one of those Magnificent Seven tech stocks stumbles and they could take down the others and perhaps even the rest of the market. There's also the situation in Washington. They're trying to pick a

Speaker of the House now and eventually they're going to have to diffuse the ticking time bomb that is the debt ceiling.

There's tariff announcements, deportations. I could go on and on.

Look, at the end of the day experts are saying people should not overreact to any market drop, especially if you're a long-term investor. Because in the long run those selloffs -- they do look like blips. And because the underlying economy is strong this could even be a buying opportunity if there is a big market drop.

SIDNER: Matt Egan, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

EGAN: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: John.

BERMAN: All right, a small plane crashed into a warehouse in Southern California killing two people and injuring 19 others. The two people who died were believed to have been on the plane while those who were injured were inside the building.

The plane crashed less than two minutes after taking off from Fullerton Municipal Airport in Orange County. The pilot told air traffic control he was going to turn around to make an emergency landing. Whatever the issue was with the plane at this time remains unclear.

Today, President Biden will award the Medal of Valor -- that's the nation's highest award for a public safety officer -- to eight first responders. The honorees include five Nashville police officers who responded to the deadly 2023 Covenant School shooting, a Nebraska police sergeant who saved a drowning woman, and two New York City firefighters who saved people from burning buildings.

President Biden helped create the Medal of Valor award when he was a senator.

So the greatest of all time perhaps hinting she might be done competing. Simone Biles -- she was just named the Sports Person of the Year by Sports Illustrated. She told the magazine it would be greedy of her to compete again in the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles and that she is "humble enough to know when to be done."

Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast of all time -- Sara.

SIDNER: What an incredible career she has had.

All right. They've rehearsed and trained for months -- I'm talking about John and I -- No, just kidding -- all for a chance to pursue their dreams of becoming the next K-Pop idol.

CNN's Kyung Lah is sharing why having musical talent isn't always enough to make the cut.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The time has come for the trainees to transform into idols. After months and years of practices it's finally the last evaluation.

They take pictures with their mentors and the room settles in for a series of group and solo performances designed to showcase the trainees' dancing, rapping, and singing skills.

Vocals are first. Nihan (PH) is up for lead vocalist.