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Johnson in Battle to Retain Speaker's Gavel; Questions Swirl about Bourbon Street Barricades; DHS: No Evidence Linking New Orleans, Las Vegas Incidents; Hazardous Snowfall, Ice, Rain & Thunderstorms into Next Week. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired January 03, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Friday, January 3, right now on CNN THIS MORNING.

[06:01:14]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): We're going to get this done.

REP. TOM MASSIE (R-KY): You can start cutting off my fingers. I am not voting for Mike Johnson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Walking a thin line. Today, Speaker Johnson's bid to hold the gavel goes to a vote, putting the GOP's razor-thin majority to its first big test.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was 100 percent inspired by ISIS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Piecing together a timeline. The key details we're learning about the driver in New Orleans in the hours leading up to the deadly attack.

And --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know we have a bombing. Absolutely. And it's a bombing that certainly has factors that raise concern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: The search for a motive. Investigators trying to find out why an active-duty Green Beret orchestrated a Cybertruck explosion outside of Trump's Las Vegas hotel. And then, looking for a new leader. A crowded field of candidates have tossed their hats into the ring to chair the DNC. The vote, now just weeks away.

All right, 6 a.m. on the East Coast, a live look at Capitol Hill on this Friday morning. A very busy Friday set to unfold underneath that dome.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

Groveling for the gavel. In just hours, House Speaker Mike Johnson will find out if all the meetings, phone calls, TV interviews, opinion pieces, trips to Mar-a-Lago, texts to Elon, and pleas to President Trump have panned out for him.

This afternoon, the House votes to elect -- elect its Speaker for the new Congress. President-elect Trump has endorsed Johnson, but with Republicans holding 219 seats, Johnson can only lose one GOP vote to another Speaker candidate and still reach the 218 he'd need to keep his job.

There's at least one Republican who is a hard no.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MASSIE: You can pull all my fingernails out. You can shove bamboo up in them. You can start cutting off my fingers. I am not voting for Mike Johnson tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: That was Thomas Massie, appearing there with Matt Gaetz. You may remember Gaetz was a key figure the last time Republicans needed to hang together and elect a House Speaker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: You might have missed it; blinked and you missed it. But that was then-Congressman Mike Rogers having to be restrained on the House floor. That was back when Kevin McCarthy was struggling to win the gavel. Rogers appeared to be going after Gaetz there.

McCarthy, during his fight to become Speaker, made a number of promises to his fellow members to win the votes. Those promises, though, ultimately cost him his job just months later.

Johnson is reportedly not making that same mistake, not making those same types of commitments. He's still hoping that this afternoon will go his way with relative ease.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHNSON: We're going to get this done. Look, I'm humbled and honored to have President Trump's endorsement for the role again, as well as the endorsement of leaders across the conservative spectrum and the Republican Party. All of my colleagues that are -- that are standing with us. And we will get this done.

Look, the things that we're talking about this morning are an illustration that we live in very serious times. We cannot afford any palace drama here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: "We can't afford any palace drama."

Our panel is here: Molly Ball, senior political correspondent for "The Wall Street Journal"; CNN senior reporter Isaac Dovere; Kate Bedingfield, former Biden White House communications director; and former Trump White House communications director Mike Dubke.

Welcome to all of you. Thank you for being here. I don't know if Johnson sounds as confident as he may wish he can be heading into this vote.

Mike Dubke, what do you think?

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Oh, I think he's confident. I think he has to be. He's got -- he's got Donald Trump, the president-elect, on his -- on his side early.

McCarthy, if you remember, before he went through his 15-vote marathon, Trump had to call after the votes had started.

[06:05:05]

I don't think anyone else is organized to try to oppose him at this point. So, I think he has to feel confident.

And we've got -- the Republicans have a very aggressive agenda that they have to go after. And having two, three, four, five votes delaying anything is going to delay that agenda.

HUNT: Yes, sure. But like, Mike, I get that -- you know, he's saying that we can't afford this -- the last time. I mean, they couldn't afford to do it the last time they did. I mean, it hasn't deterred them in the past.

DUBKE: Very different, very different, '23 versus '25. In '23, you had a Democratic Senate. You had a Democratic president. You had Republicans who were ready for opposition and to stand in the way of that agenda, as opposed to being proactively pushing an agenda. Very different circumstances. So, I think he's going to win on his first ballot.

HALL: Molly Ball, we're watching a handful of these Freedom Caucus members kind of try to figure out what they're going to do. We saw Chip Roy, who is one of the stronger voices, I guess I would

say, on this, seems to have -- Mike Johnson says that Trump's not calling people yet. It's possible Roy has -- has had, you know, the Trump orbit kind of reach out to him and say, hey, don't do this.

But there's a number of real wild cards, including Victoria Spartz is one of them. She also spoke with Matt Gaetz yesterday night on his new show. Let's watch what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. VICTORIA SPARTZ (R-IN): Speaker Johnson needs to commit to govern and deliver on this agenda that is very important for American people.

So, as of right now, if we don't have concrete commitment from Speaker Johnson, I'm not going to be supporting him tomorrow. But I'm open- minded. I'm going to talk to some other members. And hopefully, they will connect with him later tonight or tomorrow morning and figure out if we can actually make real changes in this institution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: What's your sense of how this is going to play out today, and especially the incentives in terms of, you know, any -- for any one of these people? I mean, look where -- where Matt Gaetz landed himself after making a big show of taking on Kevin McCarthy.

Sometimes these incentives are not lined up, right, for Johnson and these other members.

MOLLY BALL, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": That's right. And the real problem for Johnson here is just the math.

I mean, you can have a Republican caucus that is 99.5 percent united, and if there are two outliers, that's all it takes for him to lose this vote. So, that's the problem for him. He actually does have a Republican Party that is as -- as unified and optimistic as I've ever seen it.

It's just that it only takes a couple people, and there are a few people who see themselves as more loyal to what they consider principles than they are to the -- making sure that he gets the vote on the first ballot.

Now, there is no alternative, and that has been a consistent message from Johnson world, is that, well, if you don't like me, what is it that you want? Because there isn't anybody else.

But that doesn't mean, as you said -- that has not deterred them in the past from just making trouble for trouble's sake, either to make a point or to seek these structural reforms, which Johnson has not committed to. In fact, he's trying to raise the threshold for the motion to vacate.

So, this is, I think, an early test for the incoming administration. And it's a really important test for Johnson, who is still seen as sort of an accidental Speaker and who has to prove that he has the effectiveness and has the leadership skills to do this job going forward in what are going to be difficult circumstances.

HUNT: Yes. Let's take a look at what Donald Trump has had to say publicly about -- about Johnson here heading into this vote. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think they'll support Speaker Johnson. I think we're going to have a great time in Washington. And I think we're going to get great support.

He's the one that can win right now. People like him. Almost everybody likes him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: "Almost everybody likes him."

Kate Bedingfield, he -- others have noted that people who may run instead of Johnson have 30 to 40 people who don't like them in the House of Representatives.

KATE BEDINGFIELD, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Yes.

HUNT: But I think to Molly's point, this is -- this is the beginning of something. It's not the end.

BEDINGFIELD: Right. Well, yes. And it's, you know, in some ways this should be the easiest vote. And it's absolutely not. And this portends a very challenging, you know, few years for this Congress.

I mean, look, Mike's right. I think Trump's support -- I think the dynamic here is very different than it was in 2023 for the Republicans who are leading -- who are going to be, you know, drafting behind -- to use racing terminology, I mean, drafting behind Donald Trump. And he's been very clear that he wants to see Johnson made Speaker.

So, you know, I think the dynamic is very different than it was in 2023. But the fact that it is such -- it's such a challenge for them to even get their ducks in a row on getting their -- their Speaker appointed, it does not portend well when you're getting to more complicated and challenging legislation as they move forward in the session. So, we'll see.

What does it mean for Democrats who are trying to -- I mean, they don't control any of the branches of government, but --

EDWARD ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, look, the two things that I feel certain of going into today is that Mike Johnson does not want to have 15 votes or more for Speaker like Kevin McCarthy did two years ago, and that all 215 House Democrats are going to be voting for Hakeem Jeffries to be the leader.

[06:10:06]

And they will continue to do that vote, if it's one ballot or 15 ballots, as it was two years ago.

This is -- I think Kate's right. This is an early test for what the Republican leadership is going to look like. It is also a gauge of what the Democratic response will look like.

We saw a couple of weeks ago when the shutdown threat was there, that the Democrats stayed unified in what they were doing until they provided the votes that the Republicans needed to avoid a shutdown.

They have said very explicitly that they will not be there to save Mike Johnson or House Republicans going forward. So, is this a governing majority? We're going to find out.

CNN senior reporter Isaac Dovere; Right. This is a bat signal to the Democrats about how much potential power they have for a minority party in this House, given just how tight the margins are.

HUNT: Well, just because -- I mean, Mike, one of the things that Republicans don't want to do is work with Democrats, right? That's one of the grievances that they have against Mike Johnson. The country is not going to function if they don't.

DUBKE: Yes, that's -- that's true. I think, for the Democrats right now, it's a sit-back, kind of lean-back in your chair. Just relax. Just watch it all unfold in front of you.

And which is very different, though very different than 2017 when -- when the Democrats were really pushing hard in opposition. I think they're going to sit back and just watch how all of this unfolds, mainly because the numbers are so small. Ninety-nine point five percent is absolutely right, and it still doesn't get you over the finish line.

So, this is going to be a tough one for Johnson. But -- but I do. But I do think -- I mean, look at the gray hair on the man. It just -- I mean, I -- you look back, you know, several months. He had no gray. He's got a lot of gray.

DOVERE: The politics of this, all through last year, I kept asking Republicans and Democrats involved in House campaigns: was the dysfunction of the Republican majority registering for voters? And they kept saying, not really, or its just Washington or whatever.

And look at the results. The House Democrats went into election day thinking that they would be able to capitalize and win the majority. They did not.

DUBKE: One big difference. You can blame that on divided government in the last election. Now that you have unified government, Republicans have to deliver. I mean, that's the big -- that's the long story here.

HUNT: For sure. All right. Join CNN live for special coverage of the vote for the House Speaker.

I'm going to be up on the Hill today with our Dana Bash. We start Live today at 12 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

And straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, Bourbon Street reopens, but it won't look quite like it did before tragedy struck there on New Year's Day.

Plus, new details about the decorated service member behind the wheel during that Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas.

And the highest-ranking Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer, revealed who he thinks should chair the DNC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know that we lose when voters get their information about Democrats from Republicans, so we need to level up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:16:44]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's important for people to understand that, to protect our citizens in America from evil, you have to crush it. You can't go out there and placate it. You can't go out there and say, oh, I'm going to put this in place and that in place, and hope that evil doesn't show up on your doorstep, because it will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Bourbon Street reopens as new questions surface about the safety of the New Orleans central district. A 2019 security report recommended the safety barriers should be fixed because they, quote, "didn't work."

They were being replaced at the time of the attack. The city's police superintendent explained Thursday why those barriers proved ineffective.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUPERINTENDENT ANNE KIRKPATRICK, NEW ORLEANS POLICE: Those particular terrorist drove around onto the sidewalk and got around the hardened -- hard target, where he did have a car there. We had barriers there. We had officers there, and they still got around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CNN's Leigh Waldman live on the scene for us this morning. Leigh, can you tell us what you're seeing there this morning?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kasie, good to be with you this morning.

It seems all is normal here on Bourbon Street. We're seeing the street completely open now to vehicle traffic.

Yesterday, they opened it back up to pedestrian traffic. But we're starting to see, within the last hour, vehicles starting to drive up and down Bourbon Street.

But what has taken our breath away this morning is a growing memorial to the 14 lives that were taken here in the very early hours of New Year's Day. I'm going to move out of the way so you can see that for yourself this morning.

You can see it's off to the side next to these temporary barricades that have been put into place on the sidewalk. It's candles and crosses that have been left here for those 14 people that were killed in this vehicle ramming attack.

And they're right beside these yellow barricades that were dropped off yesterday afternoon by law enforcement. These are next to that mechanical barricade that we keep focusing on that wasn't functioning on New Year's Day, that they're hoping to get functioning in time for the Super Bowl next month.

Now, you hear the sounds of vehicles driving through here. That shows you that, 48 hours after this attack, more than 48 hours after this attack, things are back up and running.

Bourbon Street was open yesterday. People were -- businesses were back open. People were visiting bars last night. The life was back in Bourbon Street.

We got here over an hour ago, and people were leaving those bars, walking back to their homes, their hotels here. Life is back up.

So, things feel very normal here. Aside from this growing memorial showing you that the lives were lost here.

HUNT: Leigh Waldman, thank you very much for that report this morning. We really appreciate you being there for us.

All right. We are also following developments in the Cybertruck explosion just outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

The U.S. security [SIC] of homeland security saying there's no evidence that links the New Orleans attacker to the person believed to have caused the explosion in Las Vegas, despite some similarities.

CNN's Natasha Chen explains.

[06:20:05]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Authorities say they believe the driver of the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded just outside the entrance doors of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas was 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger.

His body was burned beyond recognition, and police are waiting for additional forensic analysis for final confirmation.

KEVIN MCMAHILL, SHERIFF, LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: In how we're trying to identify him, and I'm feeling comfortable to give you this information, is a tremendous amount of substantial evidence.

CHEN (voice-over): The motive for the bombing remains unknown, but police say Livelsberger died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head just before the explosion.

They found two guns, a military I.D., a smart phone and a smart watch inside the Cybertruck. They've also identified two tattoos they say Livelsberger had.

MCMAHILL: One of which was on the stomach and one of which is on the arm, that we can see bits and pieces of it, as in comparison to what it is that we now know he had on his body.

CHEN (voice-over): Livelsberger was an active-duty member in the Army Special Forces operations, serving in Germany with previous tours in Afghanistan.

He was awarded five Bronze Stars and held the rank of master sergeant, a senior enlistment, according to four U.S. officials.

He was on approved leave when police say he rented the Tesla Cybertruck in Colorado, arriving in Las Vegas New Year's Day. He drove up and down Las Vegas Boulevard before passing the Trump Hotel.

Livelsberger then circled back and parked the Cybertruck in the entrance driveway just moments before the fiery blast, according to law enforcement officials.

Video of the aftermath shows the bed of the Cybertruck loaded with fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel.

KENNY COOPER, ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENT, ATF: The level of sophistication is not what we would expect from -- from an individual with this type of military experience.

CHEN (voice-over): Police credit the Tesla vehicle's body construction, forcing the blast upward and limiting the damage to the hotel driveway, even leaving the glass doors intact.

Law enforcement officials say they have not connected the explosion at the Trump Hotel to the deadly terror attack in New Orleans in the early morning hours on New Year's Day, but acknowledged the similarities.

Like Livelsberger, the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, used a vehicle to carry out the attack, killing 14 people. Both have a military background. Jabbar was an Army veteran and served in Afghanistan. They even rented their trucks through the same company, Turo.

MCMAHILL: If these turn out to be simply similarities, very strange similarities to have. And so, we're not prepared to rule in or rule out anything at this point.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNT: All right. Our Natasha Chen for us this morning. Natasha, thanks for that.

All right. Coming up here, the Democratic Party looking for new leadership. Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley wants to do the job of DNC chair. He's going to be live in the studio with us coming up.

Plus, the House comes back to vote for a Speaker. The big question: will Mike Johnson be able to keep his job?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:26:53]

HUNT: All right, welcome back. Temperatures dropping. A major storm brewing that may bring the winter's most dangerous weather yet.

Let's get to our meteorologist, Elisa Raffa, with more.

Elisa, good morning.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. We are looking at some major impacts possible pretty much across I-70. That goes from Kansas City over towards Saint Louis. You can see that red there.

We're looking at difficult to near impossible travel. Heavy and blowing snow, significant ice and sporadic power outages. This is just for Sunday.

And all of this stretches East as we go into Monday.

We have winter storm watches that are being issued from Kansas through Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky, and again, even Ohio, too. And all of this will continue east into Monday.

The watches stretch almost 900 miles. So pretty large area in the Midwest. We'll have some significant impacts from this storm.

It really starts to develop on Saturday. More moisture starts to pump in by Sunday. And look at what happens. We've got cold air trying to squeeze in from the North, all of that moisture coming in from the South. And that's going to create these bands of heavy snow across parts of Northern Missouri, central Illinois.

And that ice, all that pink there is ice. Plus, you have rain and a tail of some severe storms possible along the Gulf Coast.

All of this pushing East on Monday. Those impacts stretching across Tennessee into Kentucky and even parts of Virginia and the mid- Atlantic.

So, we're looking at multiple different types of precipitation here. Some heavy snow. The ice could be significant across the Ozarks and the Tennessee and the Ohio valleys.

Rain and even some severe weather. Some of the same spots that are still recovering from last weekend's tornado outbreak could see a line of damaging winds coming through with this that will also be capable of a couple of tornadoes.

So very dynamic, potent multi-hazard system on the way --Kasie.

HUNT: Sounds like fun. Elisa Raffa, thanks very much for that. Of course, there are people who are struggling with all of it.

Straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, Democrats preparing to choose a new party leader and a new direction. One of the candidates for DNC chair, former Maryland governor, Martin O'Malley, joins us.

Plus, two disturbing incidents involving vehicles in a single day. New reporting on the warnings that might have been missed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not a time now to stoke fear. It is a time to calm fear. It is a time to draw conclusions based on evidence adduced in an investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)