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Johnson Faces Critical Vote; Explosives Planted in French Quarter; Michael Allen is Interviewed about the New Orleans Attack. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired January 03, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Device, such as iPhones and Apple watches. Apple, though, denied all wrongdoing when it agreed to that settlement.

The sky is actually falling, or it seemed like it. In a remote village in Kenya, a huge piece of red hot space junk fell out of the sky and crashed near the village. Kenya's space agency says they have now confirmed this massive metal ring you see there is a fragment of a space object weighing in at just over 1,100 pounds. The agency is now working to find out exactly who it belongs to.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking just moments ago, CNN hears from current House Speaker Mike Johnson. What he just said about his chances of keeping the job. We are standing by for a vote on that. What he says the whip count is. What others say it is.

This morning, the FBI releases new images of the Bourbon Street attacker placing explosives in the French Quarter.

And inches of ice, more than a foot of snow, thunderstorms, tornadoes. Why millions of people across the United States need to be watching the weather now.

Kate is out. I'm John Berman, with Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SIDNER: This just in, House Speaker Mike Johnson just spoke with our Lauren Fox as the vote as to whether he remains speaker is about to get underway. Here's what we know and what he knows or what he thinks he knows. Johnson seems pretty optimistic, but he can only lose two votes, and one Republican lawmaker has already said he's a hell no.

Piling on the pressure, a brand-new message from President-elect Trump moments ago, saying, "a win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party." So, Trump still on his side.

CNN's Steve Contorno is tracking Trump's moves.

But first, let's get straight to Lauren Fox, Capitol Hill. What did you hear from the current speaker?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I just spoke with Speaker Mike Johnson about what he thought his chances were today and whether or not he's feeling good going into this vote this afternoon. Here's what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: This morning.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Yes, confidence.

FOX: How many holdouts do you think there still are? Would you be -

JOHNSON: I - I - I think - I expect we can get it done on the first round. Working towards it.

FOX: Would you be open to making Chip Roy the Rules Committee chairman?

JOHNSON: (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And what you can hear him saying, just as he's walking off camera there, is that he's not making any deals with anybody. And essentially he's saying what we have privately known to be the case, which is that Mike Johnson does not - wants to avoid the situation that Kevin McCarthy found himself in two years ago when he was trying to clinch the speakers gavel. He went 15 rounds. And in that process, he signed away a lot of power, including empowering conservatives to try to oust him with just a single vote, something that ultimately led to his demise just a few months later.

One thing we're hearing from a lot of conservatives is that a way to earn their vote could potentially be to make Chip Roy, a conservative from the state of Texas, the House rules committee chairman. But that's a really powerful position because you can essentially control what kinds of legislation comes to the floor of the House of Representatives.

And that is something that could potentially be problematic for Johnson because in the past Chip Roy has not supported putting certain pieces of legislation, like spending bills, on the floor of the House. That has forced Johnson to try to get Democratic votes and do it under what is known as a suspension of the rules, which requires a two- thirds majority, a much higher threshold.

So, conservatives pushing for Chip Roy to be the Rules Committee chairman. But very important there, the speaker of the House saying he's not cutting side deals right now with some of these conservative members.

SIDNER: And there -

FOX: We'll see whether or not he has to do it later on. SIDNER: And there is a big problem because they have not mentioned who

might be another choice for speaker. So far, Johnson's the only name.

All right. Steve, what are you hearing from Trump this morning?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Sara, just moments ago, Donald Trump continuing to show support for House Speaker Mike Johnson to continue in that role, posting a message on Truth Social that said, quote, "good luck today for Speaker Mike Johnson, a fine man of great ability who is very close to having 100 percent support. A win for Mike today will be a big win for the Republican Party, and yet another acknowledgment of our 129 year most consequential presidential election. A big affirmation indeed. MAGA!"

[09:05:01]

So, those are Trump's public words. And privately, we are also seeing Donald Trump show his support for Mike Johnson. He has been open to making phone calls, trying to get some of these potential Republican holdouts to back Johnson for another term as House speaker.

And look, every single thing Donald Trump has done since he has taken office has been with the intention of hitting the ground running on January 20th. He has already named his cabinet. He has his incoming staff largely in place. He has already even having his team write executive orders that he can sign on day one. And he really does not want a protracted speaker fight to delay in any way the possibility for him to really take off as soon as he is elected.

The other problem with a potential change in the House is that an incoming speaker that would be different from Mike Johnson might have to be learning on the job. He would have to potentially have some training wheels. And Donald Trump wants to be very, very active in his first 100 days, pushing through legislation, you know, getting a reconciliation bill potentially through the House and Senate. And so, the idea that a new speaker would be coming in at this moment, which he views so vital to setting the tone for his next four years, doesn't appeal to him. So, we are seeing him to be far more involved in this speaker fight than anyone in the past. And that is the reason why, Sara.

SIDNER: He and Johnson both talking to members of Congress, trying to sway them. He's still the president-elect, and he plans to hit the ground running.

Thank you so much to you and Lauren Fox. Appreciate it.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now, Leigh Ann Caldwell, an anchor for "Washington Post Live," and Matt Mowers, former Trump administration official.

I want to play our Lauren Fox chasing down the current House speaker, Mike Johnson, ago. I want to replay that moment so we can hear again what he said. Let's listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: How are you feeling this morning?

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Yes, confident.

FOX: How many holdouts do you think there still are? Would you be -

JOHNSON: I - I - I think - I expect we can get it done on the first round. Working towards it.

FOX: Would you be open to making Chip Roy the Rules Committee chairman?

JOHNSON: Not making deals (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. The first thing I want to point out is the excellent camera work there. Our camera team and Lauren Fox there gliding down the stairs, keeping out with the House speaker. Not a glitch at all there.

The second thing I want to point out, Leigh Ann, is the fact that he says he thinks he's going to get it done on the first ballot today. Do you think he's right?

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL, ANCHOR, "WASHINGTON POST LIVE": Well, we're going to see. That's the question. Mike Johnson is obviously projecting confidence. But what people are saying behind the scenes don't necessarily bear that out. The fact that he had to spend all day yesterday making calls and meeting with members who are either undecided or have said that they are a no at this moment on Mike Johnson is quite telling. The fact that he's going to have to work this until the very moment is also quite telling.

And the thing is, is that the majority is so slim, one of the slimmest majorities in congressional history, Mike Johnson, can lose one vote. And one person has already come out against him. And that is Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky. And that's why Mike Johnson is working so hard to round up all these other votes. And Chip Roy is absolutely key here. But he's not the only one. There are other hardline Republicans who are saying that they want commitments from him on spending bills, to ensure that there is a reduction in spending, not an increase in spending. And so he has quite a tough task ahead of him, John.

BERMAN: The other thing we heard there, Matt, at the end, and it was a little bit muffled, was Johnson said he's not making any side deals. A, do you believe him? And, b, what kind of deals do you expect it will take to get him this job?

MATT MOWERS, FORMER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: No, I do believe him. One, because, look, Mike Johnson's one of the most honest people you'll ever meet. He's one of those rare politicians that actually kind of tells you what he's thinking, is truthful about it. And I think the other piece is that he learned the lessons that Speaker McCarthy went through two years ago. The moment you start opening up the floodgates, where you're willing to do these one off deals with individual members to bring them on, everyone starts salivating. Every member has an ask, whether it's a committee assignment, whether it's trying to, you know, maybe barter for a better office in a few years, whether it's a rules change. And so, he's learned that lesson and recognizes that he has the strength of incumbency. He does have broadly goodwill with the conference as well. He's well liked. I think a lot of folks believe he's had a nearly impossible job the last year, and he's acquitted himself quite well and gotten some strong accomplishments, holding back against the Biden administration and Chuck Schumer in the Senate. And also not to mention, of course, the support of Donald Trump, who has immense goodwill and immense political capital that he is willing to spend on behalf of getting this done so that he can then have the election certified on Monday, get sworn in on January 20th, and hit the ground running for his first 100 days.

[09:10:13]

BERMAN: Leigh Ann, you intriguingly said that the confidence that Johnson is projecting outwardly isn't what you are hearing or what people are saying behind the scenes. So, what are people saying behind the scenes this morning?

CALDWELL: Most people think that he's not going to get there on the first ballot. Now, if he doesn't get there on the first ballot, remember, they vote again. And they vote as many times as Johnson is still in the race and until there is a speaker elected. And so people think that potentially eventually he will get there. But how many ballots it takes is another question.

Now, you know, another thing that I'm hearing is that one of the things that Johnson has really struggled with is - is - is meeting the demands of this hard right faction on these spending bills. And this was - this was escalated again just last month when he came to a bipartisan agreement with Democrats on a short-term government spending bill. This is something that's going to persistently be more complicated for Johnson.

Now, he was working with Democrats, and that's part of what Johnson's argument is. He's saying, look, moving forward for the next two years, we are going to have a Republican Senate, a Republican in the White House and - and it is going to be much easier to do what a Republican conference wants.

And so, you know, he's hoping that these hardline Republicans buy into that and acknowledge the fact that he was dealing with a divided government before and moving forward it's going to be easier. But Donald Trump's endorsement of Mike Johnson has swayed a lot of Republicans.

BERMAN: Sure.

CALDWELL: And the numbers could be much greater if Johnson - if Trump had not come out in support of Johnson. BERMAN: On that point, Matt, one thing you know very well, you know, Donald Trump really only likes winners, doesn't like it when people start to lose. So, what happens if the first ballot doesn't go Johnson's way? Maybe the second ballot. How nervous do you think Trump will get behind the scenes?

MOWERS: I mean, look, I'll push back. I think - I agree with Speaker Johnson, he's probably going to get done on this first ballot. And the reason is, it's pretty telling that you haven't seen a single other member come out in open opposition to him. At this point, they likely would have done it. You know, I mean, there are a couple wild cards that are on that, you know, undecided, let's call them, category right now. But I think they even recognize the fact that there's going to be limited acceptance from their colleagues and probably from their constituents if they try to play games today and delay what inevitably they want to see happen. Most of these members are in strong Republican districts that voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump. They don't want to slow down the agenda one iota. And if they're actually seen as standing in the way of that progress, voters are going to hold them accountable.

And, you know, to your point, I, you know, if it were to go to a second or third ballot, and again, I don't think it will, you know, I think you're going to have to see what the actual numbers are. But I don't think you're going to see that today. And certainly we saw that Kevin McCarthy was able to piece it together eventually anyway. And the fact that there is really no strong, credible alternative at the moment either.

BERMAN: All right, Matt Mowers, Leigh Ann Caldwell, thanks so much for being with us. Happy New Year to both of you.

And, of course, this will be playing out all morning long and into the afternoon. Stay with CNN for our special live coverage.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, the FBI now says the New Orleans attacker acted alone. Just how serious, though, is the threat from lone wolf attacks in the United States? We take a deeper look there.

And we're learning more about the man who set off the explosion of a Cybertruck outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. What investigators have revealed about his military background and a possible motive.

And will it be a winning weekend for "Wicked"? We have a preview of the Golden Globes and who has the best chance of taking home that golden trophy?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:18:48]

BERMAN: All right, major new questions about the security preparations in New Orleans prior to the terror attack on New Year's Day that left 14 people dead. A 2019 report warned there was a need for an immediate improvement in security barriers, flagging the potential for terrorism was, quote, "highly possible."

Authorities are also trying to answer how several warning signs were missed. Footage obtained exclusively by CNN from a home camera captured the suspect hours before the attack loading several items into his truck. A remote detonator was later found in that truck, as well as multiple coolers loaded with explosive devices in two other locations in the French Quarter.

Let's get right to CNN's Ryan Young, live on the scene for the latest on this investigation.

Good morning. Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

Look, we're right above one of those sites where one of those coolers were found. You've got to imagine all the people who are walking by those coolers as the night went on. But this is really the focus now, the French Quarter, Bourbon Street, them improving security down the way. We've seen massive amounts of officers even in the early morning hours still watching the street.

And when I talked to the police chief, she told me there would be a real focus, not only on making immediate improvements, but making long term improvements and investments to make sure something like this never happens again.

[09:20:05]

You know the Super Bowl is coming in the next few weeks. Take a listen to the police chief as we talked about how they're going to improve the barricades and the way people move up and down the street.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE KIRKPATRICK, NEW ORLEANS POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: So, what we're doing right now is we're hardening the target, and that's the term we use. We're bringing in heavier equipment. And we are also putting what are called archers on the sidewalk. You can see that. And that will give protection for anyone who would if, again, try to access via the sidewalk.

That more lives I know were spared and say, it's not a takeaway at all from those who lost life, but our officers were the ones who stopped this terrorist. I'm so proud of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: John, a few things here. The two officers who were shot and involved in this, they are now home from what I've been told by the police chief. Of course, there's video surveillance all up and down here. And we know over the next few hours we see those heavy trucks probably move back into place to make sure this road is open and ready for business.

And we've seen a lot of people getting back to the normal day to day. But there are memorials that are popping up and down the street. There's a lot of people in this community who really love the French Quarter, understand what Bourbon Street means to the country and are devastated by what happened here.

John.

BERMAN: Clearly changes need to be made and soon with the Super Bowl, though, just around the corner.

Ryan Young, thanks so much for that report.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, joining me now to discuss, Michael Allen. He is managing director of Beacon Global Strategies and was special assistant to President George W. Bush on the National Security Council.

Just to you, what kind of information did the FBI learn that - that would make them change their stance from saying the New Orleans terrorists did not act alone, to now saying he indeed did act alone?

MICHAEL ALLEN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, BEACON GLOBAL STRATEGIES: Sara, I think what this indicates is that the FBI is - now has access to the suspect's phone. I think they've been interrogating it for some time. They've made a judgment based on the types of communications, probably the types of internet searches that this individual was a lone wolf completely. If there had been any other contact, even if it's through certain secure apps, I think the FBI would be able to figure it out. But we'll have to hear the confirmation of this lately. But to me, his digital background and where he's going on his phone will be key to being able to figure out who he might be in touch with.

SIDNER: When you learn about the new details in the case, we're seeing pictures right now of surveillance video, shots from that, where he had some coolers he was putting in a couple of different places in the French Quarter that it turned out to be filled with explosives. And we're also seeing him in exclusive CNN video from a Ring camera where he is putting stuff in the back of his - his van - or his truck as he is about to make his way to New Orleans. And - and we now know that there were some remnants of things that could create explosives in a house linked to him.

What do you see as some of these missed warning signs - because there are also videos of him out there as well.

ALLEN: To me it's going to come down to a very tricky issue as it pertains to civil liberties, and that is, should we have known, based on his social media activity, that he was a threat? It's a sensitive area. How much the FBI or the Department of Homeland Security can rely on posts to social media, YouTube and the rest? So, I think if it turns out that there are tremendous indicators that he probably did online, questions will arise, just like they did around January 6th, by the way -

SIDNER: Right.

ALLEN: Of whether our authorities are checking out what's going on, on social media prior to an event. To me, that's the key. And we'll have to figure out. Because, otherwise, if he's just imbibing propaganda online, not communicating with anyone overseas, and not trying to reach out to others, it's so hard to be able to intercept those communications.

SIDNER: Yes, that makes a good point. We know his family has spoken to our Ed Lavandera, saying that they had no idea that he had gone down this rabbit hole. So, you know, we'll have to see what the FBI finds as they look through all of his electronics.

I do want to ask you what you think needs to be done now when it comes to securing areas. And not just New Orleans. But we have seen these car ramming attacks across the world, and more recently in Germany. What needs to be done for large gatherings? New Orleans is about to see the Super Bowl. That is going to be a huge event. But there are other gatherings around the country where this could be a real danger.

[09:25:04]

ALLEN: Sara, you're right, the inauguration is coming up soon. I think it's a reminder of good old fashioned homeland security work. We do need exquisite intelligence. We do need to see what's going on online. But at the end of the day, we need to be able to harden some of the softer targets around a gigantic event. So, not just the Superdome, not just the U.S. Capitol, but the venues nearby to ensure that we can't have a common, everyday terrorist lone wolf weaponizing his vehicle to attack innocent bystanders. So, it's a reminder that you need defense in depth. You need a full range of everything from intelligence to physical barriers to protect the people.

SIDNER: Michael Allen, I appreciate your time this morning. Thanks for getting up for us.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, forecasters are warning millions of Americans could soon face the most significant cold weather storms we have seen in years.

And for the first time ever, the Department of Transportation has fined an airline $2 million over chronic delays.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)