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Soon, House Votes for Speaker as Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) Fights to Keep His Job; DHS Says, No Evidence Linking New Orleans Attack, Las Vegas Blast. 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.

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[10:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. You are live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

This morning, speaker showdown, Mike Johnson is fighting to keep his job, but the math may not add up. He can only afford to lose one Republican vote today. The problem is he already has.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): I am the one hell 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 tomorrow. And you can take that to the bank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Ouch. The drama officially begins in just two hours from now.

Manu Raju joins us now up on Capitol Hill. Manu, critical vote for Speaker Mike Johnson, he's facing an uphill battle today to see whether or not he can get the votes to remain the speaker. Where do things stand right now?

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, there's virtually no margin for error because of the narrowness of this House Republican majority. Mike Johnson for the last several weeks and particularly over the last day has been having a flurry of conversation with a number of Republican holdouts, people who want him to make certain commitments, some demands to cut federal spending and the like, and also to give them more power in the legislative process.

But Johnson has been absolutely defiant, saying that he will not cut deals. He says that it is time to get behind his speaker to try to move ahead with Trump's agenda, trying to highlight the fact that Donald Trump did come out in support of him and saying that supporting him now would -- opposing him now would undercut their ability to move ahead in this single party rule in Washington.

And just moments ago, Mike Johnson made clear that he is taking a different approach than his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, who cut a number of side deals in order to get the speakership on the 15th ballot back in 2023. This time, he says Johnson is not going to cut those deals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But the question is that that going to be enough to win over some of these holdouts?

We know right now that there's one Republican member who plans to vote against Mike Johnson. That is Thomas Massie of Kentucky. And the math says that's the only Republican vote he can afford to lose, assuming all members vote for a specific candidate.

And some of those members are simply not there yet. They want Mike Johnson to cut deals. They want some commitments, including one congresswoman, Victoria Spartz, who indicated that she's not on board with Johnson yet and wants him to make some former commitments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. VICTORIA SPARTZ (R-IN): Speaker Johnson needs to commit to govern and deliver on this agenda that is very important for American people. So, as of right now, if we don't have concrete commitment from Speaker Johnson. I'm not going to be supporting him tomorrow, but I'm open minded. I'm going to talk to some other members and hopefully we'll connect with him later tonight or tomorrow morning and figure out if we can actually make real changes in this institution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But Johnson's team is uncertain how this will go come noon. Perhaps he could win on a first ballot. Perhaps he'll go to multiple ballots or perhaps this could drag on farther than beyond today, Jim. So, just so many questions, but as you know, they need to elect a speaker first to begin this 119th Congress because legislating cannot happen until the speaker is elected.

ACOSTA: Yes. And there's also the counting of the electoral votes on January 6th. They've got important work to do.

Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill, thank you very much.

Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly of Virginia. He's the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee. Congressman, good morning, thanks for joining us.

What is your thought right now on where all of this is in terms of this speaker vote? Is Johnson going to hang on to his job as speaker? REP. GERRY CONNOLLY (D-VA): I think it's really a precarious kind of situation for Speaker Johnson. But at the end of the day, I think either he does pull it out on that first ballot because of Trump's strong support, or people cast a protest vote on the first ballot, but they kind of cave on the second ballot.

So, I would say there's a pretty good chance we're going to go to a second ballot today, but probably that's going to be it. I don't see a repeat of the Kevin McCarthy cast because the Republicans understand with such a slim majority, they put in jeopardy their entire legislative agenda if they begin the new Congress with that kind of chaos.

[10:05:08]

ACOSTA: And if this thing really gets out of control and we're going through vote after vote with no vote for Mike Johnson as speaker, is there any chance that Democrats bail out the Republicans and help him hang on to the gavel? What do you think?

CONNOLLY: I don't speak for the Democratic caucus, but I do speak for myself, and I can tell you definitively there is no chance of that, zero. We're voting for Hakeem Jeffries.

And, by the way, Jim, if I can, if there are a lot of people who vote present on the Republican side, the risk for them, those votes don't count toward the majority. And that we have 215 sure votes for Hakeem Jeffries. If enough Republicans vote present, we could actually elect Hakeem Jeffries, not Mike Johnson, as speaker.

ACOSTA: I mean, is that possible? Could that happen today?

CONNOLLY: It is numerically possible, absolutely. And, no, I'm not predicting that, but they had, they can't afford a lot of members on their side voting present because that vote doesn't count toward the threshold.

ACOSTA: And I'm sure you've seen the balance of power. We're showing it on screen right now, 219 to 215, and it is going to drop potentially even further when we see some of these members of Congress on the Republican side join the administration. How is it that the House of Representatives is going to get anything done over these next couple of years?

CONNOLLY: It's going to be very difficult for the Republicans because they already have an unstable majority to now have a majority of effectively one vote. They couldn't get things done in the previous Congress with five or six votes. So, I just think they're going to have to work with Democrats or they're going to face a lot of chaos, a lot of failed legislative initiatives and an inability to pursue their agenda and Trump's agenda.

ACOSTA: And, Congressman, I do want to ask you about the attack in New Orleans. The FBI briefed the Oversight Committee yesterday. You're on that committee. I understand you got some information from your staff on that briefing. What can you tell us about the latest in that investigation?

What we've been hearing through our sources is that there is no connection between what happened in New Orleans, or there appears to be no connection between what happened in New Orleans and the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas. Anything you can tell us about either of those two things?

CONNOLLY: Yes. I think that's accurate, Jim. There's no evidence of connecting those two dots, though the coincidence obviously is tragic and troubling. What they do have in common was a military background, but that's kind of it. It looks like one was a suicide in Las Vegas and the tragedy in New Orleans was a very troubled individual but acting alone.

So, the initial reports of suspicion of a conspiracy or others involved seems to have fallen by the wayside upon further examination by the FBI and other law enforcement agents. I think that's reassuring the tragedy notwithstanding that we're not looking at some kind of vast conspiracy or some kind of sleeper cell doing terrorism in the United States.

This was the act of a lone, troubled individual who, by the way, is an American citizen born in America, living in Texas. Donald Trump has tried to use this tragedy to promote his border security initiatives and to ding on immigration. This guy was not an immigrant, and he didn't cross the border. He was born in Texas. He's an American citizen. So, this was homegrown terrorism.

ACOSTA: I did want to ask you a quick follow up to that. If Kash Patel is made the director of the FBI, are you worried about some of the things that Donald Trump says and believes the conspiracy theories that he follows and so on perhaps tainting the work of the FBI? You're going to be a ranking member on the House Oversight Committee. Is that something you're going to be looking out for if Kash Patel becomes the director?

CONNOLLY: Absolutely. I think Kash Patel has no business being the FBI director. He is not qualified. He's already shown his hand, right? He wants to purge the FBI of people who are doing their jobs.

Yes, the FBI knocking at your door makes you very uncomfortable but the FBI has to be relied upon to be the chief law enforcement agency of the federal government. And they're professionals. They're not partisans. And to inject partisan political leadership at the top of the FBI is a very troubling development. And that's something we're certainly going to watch carefully and resist to the maximum possible extent.

ACOSTA: All right. Congressman Jerry Connolly of Virginia, thank you very much for your time, we appreciate it.

[10:10:00]

CONNOLLY: Thank you, Jim. Thank you.

ACOSTA: All right. Let's discuss now with CNN Political Commentators Maria Cardona, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Shermichael Singleton.

Shermichael, let me start with you first. Does Speaker Johnson keep his job? What do you think?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think so, Jim. It's going to be tough. He obviously can't afford to lose anymore. What I'm really looking at, though, here is how many members of the Freedom Caucus may potentially join Congressman Massie in part because of their anger, to be quite honest with you, about these continuing resolutions that many of them have argued aren't the proper way to fund or run the government, which I wouldn't necessarily disagree with.

I guess the ultimate question here, though, Jim, for Republicans, if they can't get Johnson across the finish line, who in the world could they put forward that could get enough votes to actually be confirmed? I'm not certain who that person is at this point, which is why I think Donald Trump ultimately endorsed him because the reality is the math is on Johnson's side, even though Thomas Massie is still holding out.

ACOSTA: Yes. Alyssa, there's one definite no against Mike Johnson. That is Congressman Thomas Massie. We played a little bit of this earlier, but I want to get your reaction to this. He was speaking with one of his old colleagues, Matt Gaetz, who has a T.V. program now, of all things. But let's listen to what Thomas Massie had to say.

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MASSIE: You can pull all my fingernails out. You can shove bamboo up in them. You can start cutting off my fingers. I am not voting for Mike Johnson tomorrow and you can take that to the bank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes, I think that's the only manny petty you could get in Washington D.C. these days. But, Alyssa, your thoughts on this? I mean, could there be a jailbreak that we're going to see later today? If other Republicans get on board with Thomas Massie, this thing could get ugly.

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It could. Listen, I've been through a lot of these speaker fights in my previous life on Capitol Hill and a lot of it is about sending a signal. So, I actually grew with the congressman you were interviewing before. There's a world in which Mike Johnson goes down on the first ballot, and a number of Freedom Caucus members, I'm watching who we call the Gaetz Eight who last Congress what voted against Kevin McCarthy on multiple ballots, where's Lauren Boebert, where's Chip Roy in this, to register that they have some discontent, but then ultimately come around on a second ballot.

Mike Johnson has basically the two most powerful things he could have, the Donald Trump endorsement and simply the math. The math does not math for anyone else. He is the most likely person to be able to get the votes necessary to be speaker. And I would add to that, that I don't think Donald Trump has an appetite for Congress to waste time. He sees himself coming in with a mandate. He wants a functioning House. He doesn't want this year to kick off with a big Republican infighting battle on Capitol Hill. And I think that that will motivate some other folks. Thomas Massie is an ideologue. I don't see him budging, but I think others will ultimately come around.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, Maria, the other thing too about all of this is that the fact that Donald Trump has to come in at the 11th hour here to push Mike Johnson over the finish line, it also suggests that he just doesn't have the same kind of push and pull with MAGA world that he once did. I mean, there was the budget fight before the end of the year. There are these upcoming cabinet picks and now the speaker vote.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's exactly right Jim, and I think that's something that we can't lose sight of. I mean, Donald Trump had a huge loss during the whole budget fight. He was very clear about what he wanted in terms of getting rid of the debt ceiling, and no one paid attention to him. That didn't happen.

So, I do think that his hold on the MAGA world isn't as strong as before, because let's also remember, he's a lame duck president. He is not running again, he can't run again, but these folks in the Congress, in the House of Representatives, they do want to run again, and they want to win again.

And so they are looking at a much different -- maybe not much different, but a different enough calculus a little bit more obvious than Donald Trump, where this could maybe not work math-wise for Mike Johnson. I do think that he probably is the best position to win. But today, the math isn't there for him 100 percent and it might not go on the second ballot. It might not go on the first ballot. It might not go on the second ballot. If this does become chaos, who knows what could happen?

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, Shermichael, we did see Trump put a post up earlier this morning in support of Mike Johnson. We can show this saying that he's wishing him, quote, good luck today and calling him a fine man of great ability. I mean, what do you think about all this, that Mike Johnson needs Trump to push him over the finish line at this late stage? I mean, I'm old enough to remember these things were kind of a formality, not anymore.

SINGLETON: The president elect is incredibly popular among Republican voters. I mean, like I hear Maria saying he doesn't have the sway he once did, but let's not forget how well he just performed in this recent presidential contest. And the rally is many of those Republicans probably would not have gotten across the finish line and some of those very contested congressional districts if it were not for Donald Trump's popularity.

[10:15:01]

So, maybe they should be reminded of how they were able to keep their jobs or get their new job for those who are newly elected members.

I think the speaker ultimately gets confirmed here. Maybe it'll take one or two, maybe three votes to get him across. Some of those members who are more far right will probably have some things that they want to contest, which I don't necessarily disagree with as it pertains to their fiscal arguments. And a lot of Republican voters would like to see Republicans change their tune in terms of the budget writ large.

And so I think the speaker is going to have to make some adjustments there, Jim, and that's perfectly okay. But, ultimately, he wins this thing, and, yes, Donald Trump Maria is still very much so in control of the Republican Party.

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Alyssa, we were just hearing at the beginning of the program that Mike Johnson is saying he's not going to do any horse trading in order to secure these votes. I mean, he is trying to impose some discipline, which is, you know, not exactly the norm these days.

GRIFFIN: Listen, he's reverting to the John Boehner playbook, which actually kept Boehner in power for quite some time. Kevin McCarthy saw what happens when you horse trade and when you try to cut deals with people who are more interested at times in blowing up the House of Representatives figuratively than they are in governing.

Mike Johnson has something though that Kevin McCarthy never had, which McCarthy was seen as an establishment figure, as somebody from the before times of Trump. Mike Johnson was an original Freedom Caucus member. He's seen as part of the right flank. He's an Evangelical Christian who's beloved with the base of the party. And I think that actually gets him pretty far.

I mean, this conference remembers the Kevin McCarthy votes. They remember all the names that they put up, the Jim Jordans of the world and others who could not get to 218. Mike Johnson is the sole figure in the House of Representatives who can likely get to 218. But I think it's going to be a bit of a fight on the floor in the hours ahead.

ACOSTA: Yes. And go ahead, Maria.

CARDONA: Yes. I was going to say, you know, this also, I think, is an opportunity for Democrats to not just underscore the chaos that we're going to see today, regardless of what happens, but to remind Americans there's 7,000 votes that are the reason why Republicans are in power today, right? That's not a lot. This is no mandate by any means of the imagination.

And we live in a divided country where, for Republicans, compromise is a bad word. Democrats understand that that's how you get things done on a bipartisan basis. You have to negotiate. You have to compromise. I think that is a huge leverage point for Democrats going into this big fight, and especially two years from now, when Congress is going to be up for reelection again.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, when you look at --

SINGLETON: I don't think Democrats -- Jim, quickly, I don't think Democrats really permit a lot of compromise within their ranks, and we can be honest here. Look, this is an ugly process because but governing should not be easy. Selecting a leader shouldn't necessarily be easy. I am happy that the Republican Party permits a dissent within our ranks. We should allow some of our members to challenge before we ultimately select the leader. That's a good thing. That's the way governance should work, Maria. Maybe our Democratic friends could learn a thing or two from Republicans.

CARDONA: Oh, I think I -- talk to them. I don't think they want to compromise with Democrats, Shermichael. I think it's Democrats that have been the ones that are willing to work with Republicans much more so than the other way around.

ACOSTA: Yes. And it looks like there might be some compromising that's done just to keep Mike Johnson in his job today. So, we'll have to see about that.

All right. Maria, Alyssa, Shermichael, thanks to all of you. I really appreciate it.

CARDONA: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Good to see you. Happy Friday.

Stay with CNN. We'll have live coverage of the speaker vote at noon today. So, that's coming up in just a short time from now.

Still ahead, new details are emerging about the man behind the deadly attack in New Orleans. CNN's Ed Lavandera is live in Houston where the attacker lived.

Ed, what are you learning?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Jim investigators and those close to New Orleans terror suspect are trying to figure out exactly what motivated him to carry out this attack. We'll get into more about what we're learning when we come back.

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[10:20:00]

ACOSTA: Authorities are using new surveillance footage to help piece together a timeline of the horrific New Year's attack in New Orleans. CNN has obtained this video showing the driver, 42-year-old Army Veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar. It shows him is putting what looks like the ISIS flag in the truck that he then plowed through a crowd of people on Bourbon Street. 14 people were killed. Dozens more were injured. Bourbon Street is now reopened, but there are growing concerns about safety in this historic tourist area.

CNN's Ryan Young is following the story for us in New Orleans and our Ed Lavandera is on the ground in Houston, where the attacker lived.

Ryan, to you first. What more are you learning about the investigation where it stands right now? We were just talking to Congressman Gerry Connolly about this, and it sounds from what they're being told up on Capitol Hill that this attacker may have been working alone. At least that's the way things look right now. What are you hearing? RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is the belief so far. And in talking to investigators, talking to FBI, they've been telling us that they are operating with that as the sole purpose right now. But let's not forget, they have other intelligence that they're still trying to work on in terms of his laptops and his cell phone.

As I take a step out of here, one of the things about this, and you talk about the video and how that played out, they were able to watch parts of this crime because of the fact of all video surveillance that's on this street.

This street has now been hardened because there are officers up and down this street. They have blocked it off differently than what it was blocked off before. There's been talks about the barricades that were down. Those will be improved before the Super Bowl. The big conversation about how to move this forward is making sure they're surging all those extra funds into this area to make sure that this street can stay open.

And as you can see right now, Congress (ph) is open. A lot of businesses that didn't open yesterday are open today. But there's still so much pain in the Quarter, especially for families like the Matthew Tenedorio's family. The young man passed away after being shot. Take a listen to his family talk about this tremendous loss.

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LOU TENEDORIO, FATHER OF NEW ORLEANS ATTACK VICTIM: This morning, the gravity of the situation really hit home.

[10:25:04]

And I just realized that I will never see my son again. And I just broke down. And, honestly, my heart is broken. And --

CATHY TENEDORIO, MOTHER OF NEW ORLEANS ATTACK VICTIM: For everyone, not just for us, for all of the families that lost theirs.

L. TENEDORIO: It's just overwhelming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Jim, talking more about the victims, Reggie Hunter, he passed away. Hubert Gauthreaux died. Matthew Tenedorio, Jude Dauphin, Billy DiMaio, Nicole Perez, Tiger Bech. Kareem Badawi. Those are the folks who lost their lives. We're still learning so much about them, hope to learn more.

We know 14 roses were placed out here yesterday before this street was reopened. They wanted to signify the fact that they were going to remember these people for quite some time. And crosses are now popping up all over the place. We know, of course, funerals will start sometime in the near future, and we're learning about these families and what they've lost. At the same time, people are worried about the security, especially with the Super Bowl coming. We know the NFL top security people were here yesterday. They are okay with the plan moving forward. We will see some of the hardening of the street in the next few hours. Jim?

ACOSTA: Yes. So many young lives lost. It's just -- it's awful. Ryan, thank you for paying tribute to them.

Let's go to Ed Lavandera in Houston. What more are we learning about the attacker this morning, Ed?

LAVANDERA: Well, investigators and those close to this suspect are trying to figure out at what point or what triggered this radicalization and sympathy toward ISIS that would prompt an attack of this magnitude. And right now, there's no clear evidence of what that might have been. CNN spoke with a brother and the father of the suspect yesterday who described these turn of events as, quote, unbelievable. They described the suspect as a kind, gentle person, slow to anger, which obviously is just very different from the actions that unfolded there on the streets of New Orleans on New Year's Day morning,

But they believe that something or someone fogged his mind and that and screwed him up, in their words, so they're trying to figure that out. No clear consensus on what might have triggered all of this.

And we also spoke with a neighbor after authorities here in the Houston area, in the North Houston neighborhood where the suspect was last living. They went through, spent several hours, investigators did, going through the home searching evidence for evidence. And the neighbor that we spoke with said that he actually saw the suspect loading some light things into a white pickup truck on New Year's Eve day morning on Tuesday and spoke with him. And the suspect told him that he had found a new job in Louisiana, and he was moving there,

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MUMTAZ BASHIR, NEIGHBOR: Moving away. He was moving. He was moving to Louisiana (INAUDIBLE). 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 okay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And Jim, a source also tells CNN that inside the home, investigators found chemicals that could be used to make an explosive device as well. Jim?

ACOSTA: All right. Ed Lavandera, Ryan Young, thanks to both of you. I really appreciate it.

In the meantime, President Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, they will be going to New Orleans on Monday, we're told. The White House says they will grieve with the families and community members affected by the attack.

Let's bring in New Orleans City Council Member at Large J.P. Morrell. Councilmember, our hearts go out to you, your city. I've been there so many times over the years. It is a great place. What do you hope to hear from the president? What do you need from the federal government at this point?

JEAN PAUL MORRELL, COUNCILMEMBER-AT-LARGE, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL: Well, what we need to hear from the president is, one, how many other resources will be made available. As you know, when it comes to a tragedy of this magnitude, the federal government usually responds with, you know, bodies, law enforcement as well as we have had some interaction with SBA with businesses that were affected by the shutdown of the investigation. But other than having this fund that the council worked with the mayor and the Grand New Orleans Fund to create to support this sheer number of victims, what resources that they're going to bring down for those victims and those families as they go through this process?

Additionally, it is very troubling to many of us that during the FBI briefing yesterday, it was made public that this individual posted on social media, on places like Facebook, well before the attack that he intended to do something, and that this was not flagged. Now, obviously, locally, we have our own infrastructure issues that we're going to address at the appropriate time.

[10:30:03]

That process has already begun. But this was a cascading series of failures.