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House Votes on Speaker in Key Test of Trump's Leadership; New Details from New Orleans Attack; ISIS Attacks Increased Significantly in 2024; Standoff in South Korea. Aired 10-10:30a ET
Aired January 03, 2025 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:04]
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: 7:00 here in Abu Dhabi. Welcome to the second hour of the show. I'm Becky Anderson for you.
And coming up this hour, we are just hours away from critical elections in the U.S. House of Representatives for its next speaker. And new details are
emerging as investigators continue their work in New Orleans after a deadly attack. Meanwhile a dramatic standoff in South Korea after police attempted
to detain the country's president.
We're two hours away as I say from a high stakes vote on Capitol Hill to decide who leads the U.S. House of Representatives. Today's session opens a
new chapter in Washington with Republicans in control of both Houses of Congress. And soon the White House, President-elect Donald Trump has
endorsed the current speaker, Mike Johnson.
But Johnson is facing significant headwinds. The Republican majority in the House is very slim, and he can only afford to lose one vote from his own
party. But he has just come out with a message for his fellow Republicans. Have a listen to what Mike Johnson just said, and this just in to CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Hours to go until the vote.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I'm talking with all members and telling them they need to -- we need to unify so that we can move the Trump agenda. This
election is not just about one person. It's about moving it forward with the America First agenda. The mandate was given by the American people, by
the electorate. President Trump got 77 million votes.
The House Republicans got almost 75 million. It's a record number. They are expecting us to get to work. We don't have time for drama. So my simple
message to my colleagues is make suggestions about process improvements. We're open to that at all times, but I don't make deals with anyone.
There's no quid pro quo here. I don't do anything in exchange for a vote other than commit to make this institution work as effectively and
efficiently as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Annie Grayer is keeping an eye on things for us on Capitol Hill, and that is Mike Johnson speaking just moments ago.
Just explain the significance of what we are about to see today.
ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the start of the new Congress, and this is day one for Mike Johnson. The stakes could not be
higher for him. He is projecting confidence that he will hold on to his job. But a lot is up in the air right now. There are a lot of Republicans
who are frustrated with how Mike Johnson has handled his job as speaker and have a lot of demands for things they want to see being done differently.
And given such narrow majorities in the House, Mike Johnson has very little room for error, but something that he told -- Johnson told us this morning
that just think we need to focus on here is Johnson said he's not going to be making any side deals to win over these people, these members who don't
want to support him. And he's trying to learn from what his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy did, where McCarthy, in order to become speaker, made a lot
of deals with some of the right-wing members of his conference about how bills were brought to the floor, how spending was going to be handled, and
that made his job a lot more difficult as he was trying to navigate a very narrow majority in the last Congress.
We remember McCarthy ultimately got ousted from his job. Johnson is trying to prevent history from repeating itself, so he does not want to be
hamstrung by any side deals. But at the same time, he has to negotiate with these Republicans in order to get their votes. So those conversations have
been ongoing for weeks and have really picked up in the last couple days, all leading up to noon today.
We're going to have to see exactly how many votes Johnson can lose. That's going to be based on attendance. There's a little bit of math that we have
to do, but it's a very, very slim margin that Johnson has. And we already know that Thomas Massie is vehemently against voting for Johnson. He keeps
repeating that over and over again. There are about a dozen or so other Republicans who are leaving the door open and saying they have concerns,
but it's all going to come down to noon when members gavel in.
ANDERSON: Right.
GRAYER: We're going to hear them all say their vote alphabetically, and we're going to get to know where everyone stands on Mike Johnson for
speaker.
ANDERSON: And you could argue this is less about Mike Johnson and more about Donald Trump at this point. Why?
GRAYER: Well, Trump has come out in full support of Johnson, which Johnson needed in order to really even have a chance today.
[10:05:06]
I mean, Trump wants to come into office and get his agenda started, work with Congress with a Republican trifecta in Washington, with Republicans
controlling both the House and the Senate. That's what leaders in the Republican Party continue to say and don't want to be sidetracked by chaos
that would ensue if Johnson is not elected. So Trump is trying to put his finger on the scales here and hope that his endorsement of Johnson will be
enough to carry Johnson over the finish line. But it's going to be really close.
ANDERSON: Good to have you. Thank you.
And that is just less than two hours from now. Stay with CNN for that.
The investigation into the New Year's attack in New Orleans is uncovering some dark details about the attacker. The FBI is focusing on his self-
proclaimed support for ISIS, alongside a video where he said he originally planned to target his own family. Meantime, private security firm flagged
back in 2019 that the scene of the rampage was at risk for the kind of attack seen on Wednesday.
CNN is told temporary barriers that could have blocked vehicle access to Bourbon Street were not in use at New Year.
Let's stay on this with CNN's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller.
John, what do you make of what the FBI is releasing to date?
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, I think the picture is coming into focus, which is like many of the other
attacks we've seen internationally, the suspect here fits the profile, which is someone who is having turmoil in his personal life, was following
propaganda, pledged his allegiance to ISIS, and carried this out as a lone wolf.
Interestingly, so far we haven't seen a credible claim of responsibility in the regular ISIS channels, but monitoring those channels, what we're seeing
is people hailing the attack, wishing that, hoping -- speaking hopefully that he's "one of the brothers," quote-unquote, noticing that he followed
the ISIS instructions on how to do a ramming attack. So that is a picture that's now coming into focus, and it appears he acted alone.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, John. Thank you very much indeed.
Let's get you more now from Nic Robertson on the potential resurgence of the terror group.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): 2024 saw ISIS attacks spike. This massive concert hall attack in Moscow, killing
more than a hundred people in March. Their deadliest claimed by their most active franchise ISIS-K or ISKP in Afghanistan.
A month later, this bloody attack inside a Russian jail. Four guards killed. A stabbing attack followed in Germany. They attacked in Afghanistan
and Iran. Another of their estimated 10 franchises or provinces fought Nigerian troops.
AARON ZELIN, SENIOR FELLOW, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: We've seen a huge increase in tempo over the last year or two. In 2024,
there were like 14 or 15 arrests related to the Islamic State in the U.S.
ROBERTSON: It's a far cry from five years ago when ISIS appeared to be on the backfoot. Their short-lived Iraq and Syrian caliphate beaten by U.S.
and coalition partners into a seeming surrender. But not anymore, according to MI5's intelligence chief.
KEN MCCALLUM, DIRECTOR GENERAL, MI5: After a few years of being pinned well back, they've resumed efforts to export terrorism. We and many European
partners are detecting IS connected activity in our homelands, which were moving early to disrupt.
ROBERTSON: Taylor Swift and her "Eras Tour" in Vienna, beneficiary of the heightened safeguarding. An ISIS inspired plot forcing her to call off her
show. What has changed, Zelin says, is that ISIS is centralizing, learning from its mistakes in Syria.
ZELIN: They integrated a lot of their provinces together under this general directorate of provinces. So there's a bit more coordination on the global
level within its network.
ROBERTSON: In the Mideast, the ISIS brand is apparently still attracting supporters like these three Amanis in one of many such ISIS propaganda
videos the terror group posts.
[10:10:01]
Their bloody bounce back began several years ago, gaining temporary global attention, killing 13 U.S. troops as coalition forces pulled out of
Afghanistan in 2021. But since then, most of ISIS's recovery has not sparked massive global attention. 2025 might be the year that changes.
ZELIN: If they can do something in the U.S., if they can do something in Europe, if they can do something in Russia, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, if
they can do it, they'll do it because for them, it's a global war.
ROBERTSON (on-camera): And success for ISIS in this context could be as simple as an attacker like Shamsud-Din Jabbar claiming as he has to have
acted in ISIS's name when he may not have had any physical contact or support from them.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: We're also following developments on the cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. Now, the U.S. secretary
of Homeland Security says there is no evidence so far at least linking the New Orleans attacker to the person believed to have caused the explosion in
Nevada. But he says they do share similarities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Both individuals rented their respective vehicles from an app. Both individuals were U.S.
citizens who have served in the military, but that doesn't necessarily draw a connection between the two events other than similarities of
characteristics. We're going to refrain from drawing assessments and conclusions until we learn more evidence.
We owe that. That's a responsibility of a careful and thorough investigation. And quite frankly, a responsibility we owe the public not to
be premature in our conclusions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the cybertruck driver has been identified as Matthew Livelsberger, a decorated active duty U.S. Army sergeant and a new father.
He was on leave when the attack happened. Investigators are trying -- are still trying to determine his motive.
Police shared video of him driving up and down Las Vegas Boulevard, passing the Trump hotel, then circling back and parking at the entrance. They say
he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound before the explosive in the trunk of the Tesla detonated.
Well, a rights group has filed a petition with Israel's top court demanding to know the whereabouts of a prominent Gaza hospital director detained by
Israel's military. Doctor Hussam Abu Safiya was apprehended during an Israeli raid last month, which closed what was the last major functioning
hospital in northern Gaza. This video appears to show him walking towards a tank ahead of his detention.
Well, Israel says he was apprehended over, quote, "suspected involvement in terrorist activities." Former detainees told CNN he was being held at a
notorious Israeli military base. Humanitarian groups have expressed concern about his fate.
Elsewhere in the region, French and German foreign ministers are in Syria's capital, meeting the country's new leaders after rebel forces seized
control less than a month ago. The French foreign minister expressed cautious optimism and emphasized the importance of preventing a, quote,
"resurgence of Islamist terrorism." Well, the ministers also visited Syria's infamous Saydnaya military prison under former president Bashar al-
Assad's dictatorship. It was dubbed a slaughterhouse by human rights advocates.
Well, still ahead, the U.S. House gets ready to pick a new speaker. But the Republican frontrunner faces challenges from his own party. What is at
stake if this vote is drawn out? More on that is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:16:17]
ANDERSON: Well, in Washington, a high stakes battle is brewing to select the new speaker of the House. Now, Republican Mike Johnson will try to
retain that leadership position when the House votes. He has the endorsement of President-elect Donald Trump, but not all conservative
lawmakers are sold.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. LAUREN BOEBERT (R-CO): I do believe that Mike Johnson coming out and committing to Chip Roy being the chairman of the Rules Committee would
secure the vote on the first round.
REP. VICTORIA SPARTZ (R-IN): As of right now, 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 we'll connect with him later tonight or tomorrow morning and
figure out if we can actually make real changes in this institution.
REP. NICK LALOTA (R-NY): Two years ago, there's a 15-round knockout drag- out fight. This may be more like a pillow fight. Despite a couple of my colleagues dissenting a little bit over the last couple of weeks, I think
we'll come together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Doug Heye is a Republican strategist, former RNC communications director. He joins us now from Washington.
So a lot going on behind the scenes, Doug. It's good to have you to do a deep dive on this.
DOUG HEYE, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Thank you,
ANDERSON: We've been -- we started this show talking to Annie and talking about the significance of what is going on and why this is as much about
Donald Trump as it is today about Mr. Mike Johnson. Let's start, though, with Johnson. Why has this gone right down to the wire, Doug?
HEYE: For two reasons. One, Republicans have a majority that is right down on the wire in how slim it is. There's really very little margin for error
for Mike Johnson. If two people vote against him, he doesn't get the job. The other reason is, and what we've seen for a long time, Becky, is an
intransigence within certain portions of the party, certainly not the majority of the Republican Party, not with John Boehner recall the majority
of the majority.
But a few members who will always find a reason to be no on whatever the issue it is -- keeping the government open, voting for the speaker, what
have you. This is their leverage point. This is where they try and use it. The difference between now and two years ago is that opposition is much
smaller. Kevin McCarthy had 19 people who voted against him in that first round two years ago. That's not going to happen with Mike Johnson.
And then the other factor is Donald Trump. One of the messages that Mike Johnson's allies are sending is delaying this delays the certification vote
for Donald Trump. It delays preparations for the Trump administration. And if you want to be a MAGA member of Congress, this is not how you do it.
ANDERSON: Donald Trump is absolutely determined to be the man who can from day one the idea of then delaying his certification, of course, is going to
be a big wind up to him. Let's just have a listen to some of the roadblocks I think that Mike Johnson faces. He says he thinks that the vote for his
reelection should be smooth, but he does, as I say, have a few roadblocks. Let's have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Could you vote for him on January 3rd?
REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): He doesn't have my vote.
RAJU: So you won't vote for him?
MASSIE: He does not have my vote.
RAJU: Will you change your mind?
MASSIE: It would take a Christmas miracle.
RAJU: Do you think the speaker, given the way he's handled this, deserves to be reelected on January 3rd?
REP. RICH MCCORMICK (R-GA): I think there's going to be a debate on it. If we're not careful, we'll be having some serious debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Is this or do you anticipate a debate? And is this going to go to multiple rounds, do you think? This is going to be a drawn-out process.
[10:20:05]
HEYE: It could be a little drawn-out. It certainly won't be a midnight vote, as we saw two years ago. And the clips that you showed tell exactly
why. He does not have my vote does not mean he will not have my vote. We'll debate this doesn't mean I'm voting no. And so we could see two, three,
four, maybe six members voting against Johnson on round one. Then the pressure on defying the will of the party and Donald Trump becomes that
much more intense.
ANDERSON: So what are the holdouts ultimately want from Johnson and indeed, Donald Trump at this point?
HEYE: Well, first and foremost, they want attention, right? This is a way for them to be talked about. This is a way for them to raise money and to
raise their profile. We should never forget that in our current political world right now. The other is some form of leverage. And what Mike Johnson
has said is, unlike Kevin McCarthy, and McCarthy made big mistakes and big concessions in two years ago, Johnson isn't cutting any side deals, which
is also signaling to some of those people who thought that Kevin McCarthy was too weak, I'm going to be strong and I'm not going to cave under
pressure.
That's a real signal that he's sending. That also tells us about policy moving forward.
ANDERSON: There are those who believe he's being lax, soft on fiscal spending, right? And this is something that speaks to where we believe
Donald Trump may be headed. He doesn't care about the debt.
HEYE: Yes. Look, the reality is, you know, until this Congress comes into session, which does not happen until there's a speaker that's been elected.
We don't have a Congress at that point. The reality is there's a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate. That's the political reality. Some
people in the Republican Party don't want to admit this.
Becky, I dealt with this in 2013 when we had the shutdown, when we had a Democratic Senate and a Democratic president. Just because you have a House
majority, whether it's slim or wide, doesn't mean that you get to dictate all the terms. Some Republicans want to live in a fantasy land where they
believe that they can do anything. They're also the ones that always vote no on everything, and the same ones that cause the trouble today or two
years ago.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. Well, it's going to be a good watch from this part of the world.
HEYE: It's never boring.
ANDERSON: Doug, it's always good to have you. Thank you very much indeed.
Like the House speakership -- never boring, exactly -- Facebook might be getting a conservative makeover. Meta's top policy executive is stepping
down in a move that could see the company shift to the political right.
Nick Clegg, the former U.K. deputy prime minister, joined the company in 2018 becoming president of global affairs in 2022. His replacement is one
of Meta's most prominent Republicans, Joel Kaplan, a former deputy chief of staff in the George W. Bush administration.
Analysts say the move seems to be CEO Mark Zuckerberg's attempt to somewhat cozy up to Trump at the start of his second term, a trend by tech moguls
that we are seeing that started with Elon Musk.
Well, ahead on the show, a dramatic standoff in South Korea. I'm going to tell you what happened outside President Yoon's residence earlier and what
is next for the investigation there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:25:21]
ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. 24 minutes past 7:00 here in Abu Dhabi.
Investigators in South Korea have suspended their efforts to arrest the President Yoon Suk Yeol, following a dramatic standoff earlier on Friday.
Now have a look at these pictures. The corruption investigation office as it's known said they were blocked by 200 soldiers and members of the
presidential security detail as they approached the presidential residence. Yoon is wanted for questioning in multiple investigations.
Mike Valerio was on the scene of the standoff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So the question now is this -- what do prosecutors and investigators do to make sure that there is not a repeat of
this again? Or will they even try again to arrest South Korea's suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol?
But to give you an idea of the backdrop that we have right now, all the people, the hundreds of people who you see spanning a few blocks with all
of their South Korean flags, those are supporters of South Korea's suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol. And for his part, Yoon issued a clarion
call as soon as this warrant for his arrest was issued on Tuesday. And he sent a letter to his supporters, paraphrasing here, saying, hey, I need you
all to come out and make it much harder for law enforcement to detain, make it much harder for law enforcement to arrest me. And they answered that
clarion call.
So fast forward to earlier this morning, we have not only his supporters, but the equivalent of South Korea's secret service protecting the president
and refusing to turn over suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol to investigators, investigators who want to hold him accountable for putting
this country down the road of martial law, declaring martial law one month ago, on December 3rd, into the early morning hours of December 4th.
So this is dealing with criminal charges. Meantime, we have new reporting that the suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol has his first date of his
impeachment trial. The first trial session of the impeachment saga, which is set for January 14th. So, in sum, we were waiting to see the next move.
What will prosecutors and investigators do? Will they try again to bring South Korea suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol into custody?
Mike Valerio, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And that is it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay tuned. We will be back after this short break with a CNN Academy special with Bill Gates. That is
after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
