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CNN International: Sugar Bowl Takes Place After Moment of Silence for Victims; 119TH Congress Sworn In; Families Mourn Victims of Bourbon Street Horror; Speaker Vote in House, Johnson's Fate Uncertain; Cybertruck Driver Identified, Motive Undetermined; UK Scientists Unearth "Dinosaur Highway" at Quarry. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired January 03, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane, and this is CNN Newsroom. Just ahead, more details are emerging after the deadly attack on New Year's travelers in New Orleans, a five-year-old report warning that a terrorist incident in the city's French Quarter was highly possible.

Well, Mike Johnson, hang on to his job as House Speaker. We look ahead to the swearing in of the 119th U.S. Congress later today. And more chaos in South Korea as investigators suspend efforts to detain the president after a dramatic standoff.

New details are surfacing in the New Year's attack in New Orleans that left 14 people dead. A private security firm warned back in 2019 that Bourbon Street, the scene of Wednesday's tragedy, was at risk for mass shootings and vehicle attacks. Bourbon Street, in the heart of the city's French Quarter, is a tourist magnet, and it's now open again with extra security.

Earlier, the FBI released new pictures of the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, walking around the French Quarter shortly before the attack. The FBI is focusing on the suspects' apparent interest in ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER RAIA, DEPUTY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI COUNTERTERRORISM DIVISION: What I can tell you right now is that he was 100 percent inspired by ISIS, and so we're digging. We're digging through more of the social media, more interviews, working with some of our other partners, to ascertain just how to ascertain a little bit more about that connection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: The White House says it has seen no evidence of foreign direction or involvement in the New Orleans' attack. CNN Ryan Young has this report.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Now that we know, and we've seen parts of that report. You understand why there are people here who asking questions about what the next steps are, especially when it comes to improving security in this area before the Super Bowl.

But if you look behind me, that's where the accident pretty much came to an end, down this part of Bourbon Street. We're a little bit above at this point. This street has been hardened over the last 24 hours. They have large trucks on either end. They put barriers up toward sidewalks to make sure folks can't just come through anymore.

This street was open yesterday, and in fact, they did a second line. Now that's part of almost a celebration here in New Orleans as they try to memorialize the people who lost their lives here. So, we watched the Mayor and the Police Chief and clergy members all moving together to symbolize the reopening of this famous street here -- place 14 roses down.

But you can still understand the pain that is connected with what surround this area, the bodies that were just strewn up and down the street. We actually talked to Matthew Tenedorio family about the sudden loss and the tragic ending of his life. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATHY TENEDORIO, MOTHER OF NEW ORLEANS VICTIM MATTHEW TENEDORIO: If he could help, if he could -- you know, that's what that was him, he would help.

LOU TENEDORIO, FATHER OF NEW ORLEANS VICTIM MATTHEW TENEDORIO: I mean, I wasn't there, so I can't really tell you exactly what happened, but that's just a bit from what we're hearing from his friends.

C. TENEDORIO: Yes, they ran toward to see if they could help and --

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And do you know --

C. TENEDORIO: Then utter chaos when the gun shot started.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Reading the names here of the people that we know so far who have been lost. Matthew Tenedorio, Reggie Hunter, Hubert Gauthreaux, Drew Dauphin, Billy DiMaio, Nicole Perez, Tiger Bech and Kareem Badawi. Those are the people that we know so far that have lost their lives.

Of course, we're still trying to learn more about those victims coming back here live. We know they're going to be putting more security protocols in place, especially before the Super Bowl. When I was talking to the Superintendent which is basically the Chief of Police here, they were telling me that the NFL was here as well, and they were looking at all the security plans moving forward.

And we know federal resources have been surged in this area, with over thousand officers that were in place for the Sugar Bowl yesterday. So, we know more improvements will happen.

MACFARLANE: Fans and players observed a moment of silence before Thursday's Sugar Bowl game to honor the victims of the New Orleans terror attack. The game in which Notre Dame beat the University of Georgia had been postponed a day following the New Year's attack.

Well, I want to bring in JP Morrell, a member of the New Orleans City Council. Sir, thank you so much for joining us. It is heartening to see there, fans still turning out for the Sugar Bowl yesterday -- you know, in the face of this violence and this horrific situation that happened in your city on New Year's Day. Just speak to us first there about the mood where you are today -- you know day on from this attack and how New Orleans have been rallying?

[08:05:00]

JP MORRELL, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCILMEMBER AT-LARGE: Well, thank you for having me. It's a -- it's a very delicate balance. Obviously, our city is renowned for fun, food and revelry. We're an open, inclusive city that really encourages people to come here and have a good time.

And what happened on a New Year's Day really shattered a lot of that. And it speaks to the resilience and the strength of the city that we were able as a city to not just support the victims and their survivors of this horrific terrorist attack, but we're also to stand up and move forward.

I mean, Bourbon Street was an active crime scene all of New Year's Day and half of the day after and yet we were able to get it back up, get it back open. And like I said, it's that balance, because obviously we're in mourning. We're struggling to deal with the aftermath of being victims and survivors of a terrorist attack.

But we also know that part of what terrorism is, is making people not be who they are, power and fear and change their lives, and part of fighting terrorism is not letting them do that to you. And I thought we saw yesterday with the players and the fans showing up to the Sugar Bowl, with people showing up to Bourbon Street despite all of that, that really was a message to those people who seek to cower us, to seek to dishearten us, that we will not be stopped.

This is a resilient city, an old city, one of the oldest in America that pre dates our country. We are an international city, and we will stand tall like every other city, Boston and New York, who have been through one of these attacks.

MACFARLANE: Well said. Inevitably, though you know, questions are now circulating, being asked about what was missed, whether this incident could have been prevented? And we know that this security report has now surfaced from 2019 I'm sure you're aware of it, saying that an attack by a vehicle like this, an attack like this, was highly probable. That's what the report said.

I know at the time; you were working to install these new stainless- steel bollards. And why did that work only begin in November? Because clearly, it was never going to be ready for New Year's Eve.

MORRELL: Well, that's something that we as a city council are getting into. There's a lot of contradictory stuff we're hearing both internal and externally, over the timing of what those bollards were installed. To be clear, the original set of bollards, because there were bollards that were there, was actually scheduled -- was actually installed over a year ago after the attacks in France.

So, there were existing bollards. Those bollards, at some point, had failed, and it was scheduled as part of the Super Bowl improvements to replace them with different bollards. We are aware that there was some press release the mayor sent out the day of the attack with a time line that said that construction started in November.

We have had some contradictory messages from internally as far as when the work was award and when it should have started. And I know, from my perspective as the incoming Council President, we are going to do our own deep dive investigation over the coming weeks to go into that.

Because, obviously, with a Super Bowl on the horizon, it was important to have those bollards installed. But no less important was the Sugar Bowl in New Year's Eve. I mean, New Orleans is a destination for pretty much every holiday you can imagine. So, having those bollards available, and even more importantly, not having harden infrastructure even temporarily there instead of the bollards as they're placed throughout the quarter, is problematic.

But as we allowed the FBI to continue their investigation, the terrorist attack itself, which is outside of our purview, the City Council in New Orleans, infrastructure not being installed, infrastructure not being done timely. That's our purview. We intend to have a very transparent investigation as far as uncovering why that occurred.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. And you make the point that you are a destination for major events, two of which you have coming up in the next two months, the Super Bowl, you mentioned some 80,000 fans set to descend on New Orleans for that, but also Mardi Gras in early March.

I mean, I'm sure thoughts are turning to prevention, security -- you know to prevent this from ever happening again. How are you tightening your security for that? How can fans feel safe fans and visitors feel safe visiting New Orleans for those events?

MORRELL: Well, for the Super Bowl, there is an extensive, robust plan that is in place it mirrors plans that have happened after similar attacks around the country and how hardened that cities get for Super Bowl event, because as an international destination, high profile event.

[08:10:00]

Mardi Gras is going to be a very difficult process. We've already notified all the Mardi Gras crews there will be changes. We're beginning those conversations, actually today, on what Mardi Gras will look like in the wake of the attack. We will make sure everyone is secure and safe.

We will make sure that there is a public, transparent plan to assure that the people the city, and literally, the millions of people who visit during Mardi Gras season, are safe. But Mardi Gras will be different in the wake of this attack, but it will go on just like it went on after every other major disaster, because it's part of the city standing up and saying that we won't be defined by what people or events do to the city. We're bigger than that.

MACFARLANE: OK. JP, we appreciate your thoughts and obviously it's an ongoing situation for you, so appreciate your time today. Thank you. And as the saying goes, every vote counts, and that will especially be true in just a few hours as U.S. Congress gathers to elect a new Speaker of the House.

The current Speaker, Mike Johnson, wants to keep the job, and he has the enthusiastic endorsement of Donald Trump. But Republicans have such a narrow majority that Johnson can only afford to lose one Republican vote. Representative Thomas Massie says he will not vote for Johnson, and it's unclear if any other Republicans will join him and prevent the House from electing a leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): I am the one hell no. You know they say there's up to five or six who may be voting no. You can count on me to be a no. 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, let's go to CNN Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox for the latest is looking pretty precarious, isn't it for Speaker Johnson?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, he really doesn't have any room for -- already you have Thomas Massie saying he is opposed to voting for Speaker Mike Johnson. So that means that he can only lose one additional vote, and we already know of more than ten Republicans who have not said definitively yet whether or not they will vote for Johnson.

We also know that some of those members are asking for things concrete promises, related to how Johnson handles spending bills, related to how he handles future pieces of legislation. A lot of members want to be brought into that process earlier, arguing that these staff negotiations, which is traditionally how some of these bills are negotiated just aren't cutting it, that they're feeling like they're getting jammed at the end of a long and lengthy process from the Speaker's office.

So those are some of the things they're looking for. Meanwhile, Johnson being very careful to create the kind of side deals that Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy created in his 15 round battle to become the Speaker back in 2023 in part because of what those side deals ultimately did to Speaker McCarthy's speakership. It made it really hard for him to govern. Johnson is very cognizant of the fact that that is not a history he wants to repeat.

We should also just point out that Johnson has one benefit going for him, which is right now, the House Rules Package is aiming to change the threshold for how many members it would take to try to oust a speaker from just a single member to nine members of the majority party.

That is something that could ultimately protect Johnson, if he can get the gavel today. So those are the dynamics going into the day right now, Johnson doesn't have the votes locked up. Does that change through the course of several conversations, either on the phone or in his office later this morning? We'll see at noon.

MACFARLANE: Yeah Lauren, you say that Johnson wants to avoid making a series of side deals, side negotiations, to clinch the vote -- clinch the vote. But isn't that exactly what he might be forced to do if he's to avoid the fate of Kevin McCarthy?

FOX: Yeah. I mean, I think this is the difficult dynamic that he faces. If you have members making demands, and every single one of them is a free agent, potentially to blow up his chances of clinching the speaker's gavel, then you have a situation where he may be forced into making some concessions that maybe he doesn't call a side deal, but could certainly ease his path to the speakership.

It's just really unclear right now, we'll have a much better sense after the first round of voting where the count stands and how much work Johnson has to do in the interim to get the votes he needs.

MACFARLANE: All right, all eyes on Capitol Hill in the coming hours. Lauren Fox there, thanks very much. And CNN will have special coverage as the 119th U.S. Congress begins later today. Dana Bash will take you through all the developments from 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, that's 05:00 p.m. here in London.

And turning now to South Korea, where investigators have suspended efforts to detain impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol, this after a dramatic standoff with his security team earlier today.

[08:15:00]

Yoon, who was stripped of presidential powers after briefly declaring martial law last month, is wanted for questioning in multiple investigations. Well, earlier I spoke to Duyeon Kim, an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the think tank Center for New American Security. I asked her about how this unprecedented situation could be resolved.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DUYEON KIM, ADJUNCT SENIOR FELLOW AT CENTER FOR NEW AMERICAN SECURITY: So, we don't know how this will be resolved, just because this is the first time they have tried to arrest and question a sitting South Korean President. So, what you have right now, what's going on is that you've got Yoon's lawyers who say that he will definitely go through all the proper legal processes regarding his declaration of martial law.

But they're taking issue with the current process. They're saying that the investigative agency that is leading the investigation and trying to detain him there -- you know Yoon's side is saying that it's unlawful, that it's the wrong agency to be doing so. And so, they're really -- you know the opposition party and Yoon's side and the ruling conservative party. They're clashing over legalities and procedure right now, and so that's what's causing the delay in any motion forward.

MMACFARLANE: Yeah, as you say, Yoon's lawyers saying that the investigators lack the authority to arrest him, but do we know if loopholes exist here for Yoon to avoid arrest legally?

KIM: Well -- so you know, that's something that legal experts and scholars are debating currently. It doesn't sound like there is a clear-cut answer. Of course, each side says is a clear-cut answer, but that's where the debate and the disagreement is right now here in South Korea.

And so, you know -- you know it's clear that the vast majority here on both sides of the aisle agree that Yoon's decision to declare martial law was wrong, but there is a disagreement over how to hold him accountable, and which institution or which agency or which court is supposed to be holding accountable in that process in the impeachment process?

Because really, the National Assembly has impeached him, but the Constitutional Court is now up next to decide his fate, to actually see if he is going to be ousted or not. But you also have the opposition party that wants to conduct this investigation into -- the martial law declaration as an Insurrection.

And so, you have multiple procedures that are happening at the same time, but again, no clear cut, black and white answer as to -- you know who has the jurisdiction to proceed various elements of this entire situation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE (on camera): Now devastated and heart broken, families in the U.S. are mourning their loved ones killed in the horrific New Orleans terror attack. Hear their stories after the break. And the Israeli Prime Minister has given the green light for Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks to resume again, a live report from Jerusalem just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:00]

MACFARLANE: The family of suspected New Orleans attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar are speaking out for the first time since the horrific incident on New Year's Day. Jabbar's brother says he was slow to anger. Kind and soft spoken, and that something screwed him up. CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us from Houston, where he's been looking into this.

And it sounds like the family here of Jabbar coming to terms like everyone else with what's gone on. What more are you learning about the suspect?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, as investigators are trying to pinpoint exactly at what moment in this suspect's life did this radicalization and sympathy for ISIS begin? His family is very much struggling with those same questions as well at this moment.

We, CNN spoke with a brother and the father of the New Orleans terror attack suspect who as you mentioned, describes them as a kind and gentle person. They find the entire episode here to be just simply, quote, unbelievable. And that they believe that something or someone fogged his mind at some point, but they just haven't been able to pinpoint exactly what that is. They insist that they saw no indications that this kind of radicalization had occurred.

We were also in the area in Houston where the suspect lived, where investigators spent hours and hours combing through his home, collecting evidence as well there, and we spoke with a neighbor after that search was concluded, who said that he had actually seen the suspect at his home with that white pickup truck the morning of New Year's Eve Day. And at that moment, the suspect had told him that he was moving to Louisiana to start a new job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUMTAZ BASHIR, NEIGHBOR: Moving away. He was -- moving to Louisiana -- I asked him if any hands for moving, help him out, as a neighbor, do you need any help for moving things around? He said, I'm OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And CNN has also learned from a source that as part of that search, that investigators carried out there at the suspects home, that they did find chemicals that could be used to create an explosion an incendiary device. So that is part of the evidence that was there collected at the suspect's home in the Houston area before he made the drive to New Orleans. Back to you

MACFARLANE: And Ed, we know, obviously, from the FBI report that they said yesterday that the suspect was 100 percent inspired by ISIS. You mentioned, they're focusing some of their investigation on how he became radicalized. You know, in any particular detail about what they are looking at, how they are pursuing those lines.

LAVANDERA: Well, they going through a lot of -- they talked about going through several phones and computer devices and that sort of thing, those that internet search history, that kind of thing, that would give them an indication as to what exactly this suspect was reading, watching online, those sorts of questions as well.

There was, you know, so that's the kind of background that they're looking into to try to figure out exactly at what point they believe this radicalization might have happened. But so far, we're not getting in the indication as to when all of that unfolded, those closes to him at this point say they saw no indication of that.

MACFARLANE: All right. Ed Lavandera there in Houston. Thanks, Ed. Families of victims mourn and hope for more answers after the New Year terror attacks in New Orleans and the Bourbon Street memorial for those who died continues to grow a large cross and flowers. Now fill the site together with signs that indicate a vigil to be held on Saturday night. They'll remember the names and faces of all those killed in the attack. CNN's Danny Freeman has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA BOUNDS, COUSIN OF MATT TENEDORIO: My grandma, grandpa, everybody is just crying, wailing together, and yesterday, my grandma cried nonstop for eight hours like we just can't believe it.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 25-year-old Matt Tenedorio was from Slidell, Louisiana, the youngest brother of three, loved working with his dad at the Superdome. Matt had dinner with his family earlier on New Year's Eve, and his cousin said Matt was not hit by the truck that night, but died from a gunshot.

[08:25:00]

Matt's mother devastated.

BOUNDS: She wanted people to know that he was so lovable and kind, and that he likes skateboarding, you know, and he loved his niece and nephews and, yeah, and that their heart broken.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Matt is just one of 14 who were killed in the New Year's Day morning horror on Bourbon Street.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They mattered. The families matter and matter to the City of New Orleans.

FREEMAN (voice-over): 37-year-old Reggie Hunter was a father of two, an 11-year-old and a one-year-old. He was from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

TRAVIS HUNTER, COUSIN OF REGGIE HUNTER: Reggie was a beautiful person, inside and out. To know Reggie was to love Reggie.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Reggie survived the initial attack, but passed away at the hospital from internal injuries.

HUNTER: He can change the environment in the room, always smiling. Just pure person, good, pure hearted person.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Tiger Bech was 27 years old, the Former Princeton Football Player from Lafayette, Louisiana. According to his sister Virginia, Tiger was walking back to his hotel with his best friend on New Year's Eve when they were both struck. His friend survived, but Tiger passed away at the hospital.

Tiger's sister Virginia, telling CNN she's heart broken, but evil will not prevail. 21-year-old Hubert Gauthreaux was killed in the attack as well his high school in Marrero, Louisiana, asking the community to pray for the repose of Hubert's soul, his family and friends during this difficult time.

Drew Dauphin, graduated from Auburn University in 2023, words cannot convey the sorrow the Auburn family feels for Drew's family and friends during this unimaginably difficult time, wrote the University's President Christopher Roberts. The University of Alabama confirmed student Kareem Badawi was also one of the victims.

The president of that school, writing, I grieve alongside family and friends of Kareem in their heartbreaking loss. We're still learning more about the 14 people lost and the dozens injured on New Year's Day. Parents, siblings, students, locals and tourists loved and not forgotten. Danny Freeman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well, turning to Gaza now, where a nurse tells CNN that the Israeli military has ordered patients and staff at the Indonesian Hospital in Northern Gaza to evacuate. This as talks about a cease fire assume set to resume. The Israeli Prime Minister has approved sending negotiators to Qatar to restart mediation efforts.

Meanwhile, Israel is keeping up its bombardment of Gaza. Palestinian officials say one strike in Southern Gaza killed 11 people, including the Head of Gaza's Police and a top deputy that attack happened in an area Israel had designated as a humanitarian zone. CNN's Paula Hancocks joining us live from Jerusalem.

Paula, to these potential cease fire, ongoing cease fire talks, and these Israeli negotiators heading to Qatar. We know negotiations have been in dead lock for so long now. Could this be the first steps to a breakthrough in that?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it's always possible, Christina, but we have been here many times before, so that's certainly the hope, in particular from the hostage family and missing families forum there put there saying that time is of the essence, and they are welcoming the fact that these negotiations are ongoing once again.

So, what we know about these talks is that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that he is going to approve a delegation going to Doha, Qatar. Now that is expected to be today. It is a working level delegation, as far as we know. So, it's not the top individuals from Mossad, from the intelligence and also from the military, going those who can agree specifically to terms.

But it does mean that these talks are ongoing. We also understand from the prime minister's office that Netanyahu is going to convene a meeting today to discuss the mandate of what this delegation effectively can agree to how far they can go in their discussions. Now we have been hearing from sources within Hamas and also within the Israeli government that there is cautious optimism that they could reach an agreement.

But these the official talks ended at the end of August, without a decision without an agreement. And then in November, we actually heard the key mediator, Doha, saying that they were pulling away and they were pausing their role as mediator, because neither side seemed serious in their negotiations.

[08:30:00]

So, I think the hope is that the fact that this is now ongoing, once again, the fact that Qatar is now involved, once again, shows that it clearly has moved forward from the last couple of months. As we understand it, they're still discussing and trying to get the final agreement on the same proposal, effectively that the U.S. President, Donald, excuse me, Joe Biden, agreed to and proposed, back in May, that three phase approach.

The first phase would be the six weeks cease fire, when there would be a number of hostages being released, the elderly women, those who are sick, those who are wounded, in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and a cease fire in Gaza that would allow humanitarian aid to be sent in.

Now, we understand from a diplomatic source that one of the key issues was the fact that Israel wanted to keep some soldiers, some military presence in Gaza temporarily during that first phase, something Hamas didn't agree to. But we understand from a diplomatic source that may be the way forward now.

So potentially, Hamas has agreed to that both sides, though still blaming the other for the fact that it has taken so long for this cease fire to take hold. But clearly many, especially those in Gaza, are desperate to see this cease fire, especially as those in Gaza, 90 percent of them displaced, many living in tents, in makeshift shelters are in the midst of now a second winter of this war, Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and especially as hospitals in Northern Gaza are being made to empty and flee, as we were reporting a little earlier there. Paula Hancocks there from Jerusalem, thank you. Still to come. Will Donald Trump's endorsement be enough? We are just an hour away from a vote for Speaker of the U.S. House, and Mike Johnson is unsure if he has the votes. He needs to cling on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: In a little more than three hours, the 119th U.S. Congress will gather in Washington, and the House will vote on its next speaker. The result of the vote is anyone's guess. Mike Johnson wants to keep the job he has had over the past 15 months, but the Republican majority in the House is so slim.

He can only afford to lose a single GOP vote. There's already one Republican, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who says he cannot back Johnson. And if any other Republicans joined Massie, it could throw the whole process into chaos and could potentially delay the certification of Donald Trump as president, something which is supposed to happen on Monday.

Well, Johnson has already won the endorsement of Donald Trump, but will that and be enough to get him the speakers gavel at.

[08:35:00]

Joining us now is Steve Contorno. And Steve, I understand that president-elect has been actually doing the rounds calling potential holdouts. What sort of influence do you think he's going to exert there?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, we've seen a public show of support and private show of support for House Speaker Mike Johnson to continue on in that role. In fact, just moments ago, Trump posting on true social continuing to express his support for Johnson, writing 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 acknowledgement of our 129 year most consequential presidential election. A big affirmation indeed. MAGA. And so that is Trump's posture, publicly and privately. He is also more engaged in this speaker fight than he has been in the past.

He has been making phone calls on behalf of Mike Johnson. He has been willing to speak with some of the potential Republican holdouts who are still on the fence about whether Johnson can lead this conference going forward. It's a much more engaged position, because Donald Trump wants to hit the ground running.

Every step he has taken since he was elected in November has been with the idea that he would hit the ground running as soon as January 20. He has quickly put a cabinet in place. He has named his staff. He has laid out his agenda. His team is writing executive orders that he can sign as soon as he takes office.

But that is would be imperiled if there is not a speaker in place, or if that speaker is someone new, someone who would have to learn on the job. And so, Donald Trump is very worrisome about these latest developments, and that is why you are seeing him really exert his influence in these final moments before this vote.

MACFARLANE: All right, Steve, thanks very much. Well, for more on today's vote for House Speaker. Let's go to Thomas Gift, he's an Associate Professor of Political Science at University College London and an expert in U.S. politics. Thomas, great to see you.

Obviously, a difficult task for Speaker Johnson ahead, especially when we know that Representative Thomas Massie is not just a no, but a hell no, in his own words? What's at stake for the Republicans today with this vote?

THOMAS GIFT, DIRECTOR OF CENTRE ON U.S. POLITICS AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, thanks so much for having me, Christina, it's great to be with you. I mean, one obvious implication, as you already noted, is that if there isn't a speaker, the House can't certify Donald Trump's election results on January 6.

Although there has been some discussion that Republicans could elect an interim or temporary speaker take care of that process. But more broadly, this could really stunt the Republicans ability to pass funding bills to tackle the debt ceiling or to address a wide variety of issues in Trump's agenda, such as his promise to make his 2017 tax cuts permanent. All presidents have a honeymoon period after they're elected, when they're best equipped to pass these marquee pieces of legislation, and if some of Trump's first 100 days are wasted by Republicans bickering among themselves, that could really be a bad omen for Trump's ability to get other bills passed.

MACFARLANE: And we heard from Steve there, talking about Donald Trump's intervention in this, you know, publicly, privately, calling up potential holdouts. What is your sense of how many holdouts we might see given that the margin is so slim here, you know only -- really and now just one.

GIFT: It is so slim. And Mike Johnson is certainly better position now than he was, say, a week ago, before Donald Trump and Elon Musk also who have endorsed him, but he still needs to contend with a hard right in the House that seems to elevate ideological purity over the need for sound governance. You know, the one thing that I think that Mike Johnson has going from is that there's no obvious replacement.

No one is going to parachute in from right field and save the Republican Party from itself. Now, Johnson is really the only representative in the House who can speak three different languages, the language of MAGA, the language of the establishment, and the language of what you might call the blow up the system, kind of need for drama caucus that's radicalized even beyond Trump.

So, Trump certainly has a lot of influence. I think certainly he's putting pressure both publicly and privately on Republican allies. But it may not be enough. I mean, there are still a sizable number of holdouts who are acting independently and -- for this vote today.

MACFARLANE: Perhaps another concern for Trump as well as there's been some suggestion that opposing Johnson now would also put the Electoral College certification at risk. I mean, what happens on January 6 if there is no speaker in place?

GIFT: Well, Republicans have talked about putting an interim or temporary speaker in place to certify the election results, but the big question is whether they can even agree on that, because many of the Republicans who back Johnson won't want to put in a temporary speaker because they think that it would essentially acknowledge a loss and it would probably be somebody else.

[08:40:00]

So that there is sort of processes to get this thing done, but there's no guarantee. And so, we're really in unprecedented territory here. We use that phrase a lot with Donald Trump, but we're kind of unprecedented territory for now, sure.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, certainly. And so soon as well. What's your sense of whether we're going to see the chaos that ensued, as it did with Kevin McCarthy 15 rounds of voting. Are we headed for the same fate? Do you think?

GIFT: Yeah. I mean, I think that this is a war over the speaker's gavel, but it's also a war of influence over who's going to control the agenda during the Trump 2.0 presidency. So, there are big ideological battles at stake here, and no battle looms larger than the fight over spending, the Freedom Caucus and members of the hard right.

They're angry about how Johnson has cut deals with Democrats to continue to inflate the debt, which now stands at about 36 trillion. So, I don't think that they're going to give up easily. And I think this prospect of -- maybe not going 15 rounds like Kevin McCarthy, maybe not even going four rounds, like the case for Mike Johnson.

But we could still see multiple ballots here and again, because they're just going to look in complete disarray, because they are in disarray. They can't seem to govern without Democrats support. And so, this is not the foot that Republicans want to get off with Donald Trump coming into office.

MACFARLANE: And Thomas, you've touched on this already, but if Speaker Johnson gets in, he will hold the narrowest House majority in nearly 100 years. And we know that the pressure is going to be immense for GOP leaders to enact Donald Trump's agenda once he comes in. But do you think anything is going to be possible, you know, to govern with these slim margins?

GIFT: It's a really good question. If you look in the Senate as well, it's a slim margin. I mean, certainly Republicans don't have enough support there to overcome a democratic filibuster. So, I really think that Donald Trump is going to get many of the items through via executive order, executive action.

I mean that will include, for example, his promise to impose 10 to 20 percent tariffs on all imports to the United States, upwards of 60 percent tariffs on imports from China. I think maybe there is room for one big marquee legislative item, and that may be the tax cuts that Donald Trump has continued to talk about.

But beyond that, you know, if Republicans continue to be this fractured, this winter, it really is going to be tough for Donald Trump. You can say that he's coming in with a mandate all that he wants, but ultimately, he's going to need those -- in his party on his team to work with him, and we aren't seeing that so far.

MACFARLANE: All right. Well, just a couple of hours out now, we will watch and wait and see. Thomas Gift, appreciate your analysis on this. Thank you.

GIFT: Thanks, Christina.

MACFARLANE: All right. Still to come, new details about the driver of the cyber truck that exploded in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. That's ahead on CNN "Newsroom".

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[08:45:00]

MACFARLANE: Welcome back. Joe Biden has just announced he is blocking the sale of U.S. steel to Japan's Nippon steel. In making the announcement, Mr. Biden said a strong, domestically owned and operated steel industry represents an essential national security priority.

U.S. steel said Thursday, it hoped Mr. Biden would approve the $14.3 billion deal, arguing it would enhance U.S. national and economic security. The move comes despite concerns among some of the president's advisors that blocking the sale could damage relations with Japan.

More now, on the intensive investigation into the cyber truck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. The Secretary of Homeland Security says there's no evidence so far linking the New Orleans attacker to the suspect in Nevada. The driver has been identified as Matthew Livelsberger, an Active-duty U.S. Army Sergeant. CNN's Natasha Chen has more from Las Vegas.

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NATASHA CHEN, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Authorities say they believe the driver of the Tesla cyber truck 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 AT 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 ID, a smartphone and a smart watch inside the cyber truck. 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 operation 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 cyber truck 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 cyber truck in the entrance driveway just moments before the fiery blast, according to law enforcement officials. Video of the aftermath shows the bed of the cyber truck loaded with fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel.

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

CHEN (voice-over): Police credit the Tesla vehicles 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 turned 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)

CHEN (on camera): It was a frightening moment for the seven people who were injured in the immediate vicinity, as well as hotel guests inside. We spoke to a couple of guests who were here at the time, staying between the 40th and 50th floors, who felt the windows rattle and they said smoke was billowing in the stairwells and coming out of the elevator doors.

Now, something investigators are now working on is trying to retrieve any possible footage from any cameras inside the cyber truck before the explosion happened. Investigators said Elon Musk is sending staff to Las Vegas to help them with that. Natasha Chen, CNN, Las Vegas, Nevada.

MACFARLANE: Now, security camera in Southern California captured this frightening moment, a small plane crashing into a commercial building just about a minute after takeoff. Police say two people were killed and 19 were injured. It happened in the City of Fullerton, South of Los Angeles.

First Responders worked to put out the fire and evacuate surrounding buildings. The warehouse that was hit was home to a furniture upholstery manufacturer. The Balkan country of Montenegro is in three days of national mourning. Following one of the deadliest mass shootings in its recent history.

Police say a 45-year-old man opened fire after getting into a fight at a restaurant. He then continued his shooting rampage in three other locations. At least 12 people were killed, including two children, four others were seriously wounded. Authorities say the shooter died from self-inflicted injuries. The incident happened in a small town nearly 40 kilometers from the capital.

[08:50:00]

It's the same town where a gunman killed 10 people before he was shot dead back in 2022. Now, 2025 is already proving to be a deadly year for migrants in the Mediterranean. According to Tunisian state media, at least 27 people are dead after two boats sank near an island chain off the country's coast.

The vessels were carrying Africans from Sub Saharan countries. Some 83 people were rescued. The CNN's Red Cross tells -- the Red Cross tells CNN, there have been at least four shipwrecks in the area in the past week, claiming a total of 84 lives. According to the U.N. Refugee Agency, roughly 2400 migrants either died or went missing in 2024.

That's out of the nearly 200,000 who crossed the Mediterranean last year. The great majority of them land in either Italy or Greece. OK. Still to come, researchers in the U.K. say they've uncovered a massive dinosaur highway filled with hundreds of different dinosaur footprints. The details on the dynamite discovery, next.

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MACFARLANE: Scientists at the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham call it a dinosaur highway, a huge area in the quarry in Oxford, England filled with hundreds of dinosaur footprints. CNN's Samantha Lindo (ph) has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): The footprints you're seeing now are 166 million years old. Researchers say it's the most important discovery of dinosaur tracks in the U.K. for over 25 years.

EMMA NICHOLLS, OXFORD UNIVERSITY AT MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: So, these footprints we're talking about are 100 million years older than Tyrannosaurus rex, which --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Five tracks made of approximately 200 dinosaur footprints were discovered in 2023 by chance at the working quarry.

NICHOLLS: Quarry worker Gary Johnson, was removing some of the mud from the limestone floor, and suddenly realized he was hitting these sorts of hummocks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): 40 dinosaur tracks were first found in this area in the 1990s. So, the quarry contacted the Oxford University Museum of Natural History to investigate.

NICHOLLS: So over seven days, we coordinated 100 people to excavate these footprints, and what we uncovered was just incredible. The footprints at the site are from at least two different types of dinosaurs. A huge herbivorous dinosaur called a Sauropod. Those are the ones with very long necks and very long tails, like Brachiosaurus or Brontosaurus.

Those footprints are 90 centimeters long, the largest ones. The other type of track, the fifth track was made by a carnivorous dinosaur called Megalosaurus. And so, they have the really distinctive three toed footprints, and they're massive. They're 65 centimeters from front to back. So, the great thing about what we call trace fossils is that it shows us dinosaur behavior. We've calculated the speeds that they were walking and they were walking at the same speed. They were both walking at about three miles per hour, and that's actually the same speed of an average adult human.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): The trackways lie across the working quarry, so they're not safe for the public to visit, but scientists are figuring out how to preserve them, so that people can see the dinosaur footprints in the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:55:00]

MACFARLANE: I love that. Now, residents of a remote village in Kenya got quite a scare to end 2024 a huge red-hot object fell from the sky on Monday, prompting an immediate investigation from the Kenya Space Agency. The metallic ring measures 2.5 meters in diameter.

You can see it there about eight feet, and it weighs about 500 kilograms, or 1100 pounds. The KSA says it's a fragment from a space object, probably a separation ring from a rocket, glad no one got injured. And finally, to a surprising site during a high-profile sailing race.

Icebergs, sailors spotted three of them during the Vendee Globe competition, which is a solar nonstop around the world race. According to organizers, this is the first time Icebergs have been seen along the route since 2008. Glad they were a long way away, by the looks of it there.

Thank you so much for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Christina Macfarlane. Stay tuned for our Becky Anderson, who's up after this quick break.

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