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Biden to Visit New Orleans Monday; House Speaker Vote on Capitol Hill; Investigators Search for Motive in Cybertruck Explosion; S. Korea Investigators Suspends Arrest Warrant. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired January 03, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

JEAN PAUL "JP" MORRELL; COUNCILMEMBER-AT-LARGE, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL: -- own infrastructure issues that we're going to address at the appropriate time, and that process has already begun. But this was a cascading series of failures that also began with if this guy was posting on social media, what he intended to do, where was the intelligence to prevent this from happening in the first place?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And why didn't that happen? I mean, have you gotten any answers on that?

MORRELL: We have not. I mean, the FBI has taken lead on this investigation. So, our ability to interact with them is rather limited as they continue to collect data. So, from a council perspective, we're dealing with the obviously troubling revelations on the infrastructure stuff, because that is local and that is in our purview. But we don't have answers yet on why this wasn't identified.

If this person's using social media, if American citizens, we all, give up our rights to privacy so that people can use algorithms and information and fact finding to neutralize threats before they happen, this guy was on social media saying exactly what he was going to do and how he was going to do it and nothing happened.

ACOSTA: And, Councilmember, I mean, as for those infrastructure questions, we are learning about a 2019 report that urged barriers to be added to Bourbon Street immediately that they'd be improved immediately saying the current bollard system does not appear to work. What's your response to all of that? Why wasn't that taken care of?

MORRELL: Well, it's very troubling as a council person, this new council came in 2022. So, we were not aware that there was a 2019 report. So, it's very troubling, A, that this was identified a significant amount of time ago. It's troubling, B, that with the Super Bowl being awarded to the city that this was not prioritized immediately to get done.

And as we stand now, as this council is collecting information from the contractors and the parties involved in the installation of those bollards, we're getting to the bottom of what happened? Because right now there was a problem. It was identified by people higher up in the administration. And obviously, what was done to address this problem before this attack was beyond insufficient.

So, we're engaged in that fact-finding. It was delayed slightly because, as you know, with a terrorist attack, the FBI, the federal government really controls the scene to a certain point. But we're in the middle of getting into that, and we're going to be transparent and we're going to find the answers to those questions.

ACOSTA: All right, Councilman JP Morrell, keep us posted on that. We appreciate your time. Thank you so much.

MORRELL: Thank you.

ACOSTA: All right. We want to get back to the speaker battle up on Capitol Hill. Moments ago, Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio spoke out about the prospects of his fellow Republican Mike Johnson remaining as the speaker. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): I think good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think he's going to do it on one round?

JORDON: I think so. I think by probably Thomas is -- I mean, as far as I know, Thomas is the only Novo (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that some of those conservatives who've been asking for demands that they're going to get there, like, what's going to get Victoria Spartz to yes, or Chip Roy to yes?

JORDAN: I think the mandate that people sent to us on November 5th, you know, reduce crime, reduce prices, secure the border, stop the weaponization of government. That's what the election was about, and the best way to deal with that is to come together ASAP and get after what we told the voters we were going to do. So, I think that's the motivation for us to elect Mike on the first ballot and get after, you know, doing what we told the voters we were going to do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How involved has Trump been on calling members, pressuring members, making sure people --

JORDAN: Amazing statement. And Mike's a good man, a man of character, a man of integrity, and I like his work ethic, too. I mean, he's -- you know, he works hard. So, I think we'll get there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Stay with CNN. More coverage of the speaker vote is coming up at noon. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

ACOSTA: The FBI is sifting through tips to find out why a highly decorated army soldier blew up a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. A law enforcement source says the driver was Matthew Livelsberger, a Green Beret who was on leave from his base in Germany. CNN's Natasha Chen joins me now from Las Vegas. So, Natasha, what more are we learning?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, this is very shocking to the people who knew him, who've spoken to CNN. Someone who used to work with him said that he had advanced steadily in rank in the military to team sergeant and then second in command, the captain of the Special Forces detachment and mentioned that his background in Special Forces and explosives seemed at odds with what happened here behind us at the Trump Hotel on New Year's Day morning, where the materials found in that Tesla Cybertruck were fireworks and other things that could have been purchased in retail stores.

The investigators yesterday at a press conference talked about the relative lack of sophistication of those materials compared to the extensive background this person had in the military. He became a father in April of last year. CNN has reached out to his wife but has not heard back. His social media presence was sparse, but a relative of his did say that when President Trump was in office, he posted on Facebook saying that he had a lot of respects for President Trump, especially how he was helping the military.

And so, that relative believed that Livelsberger really loved the president, loved President Trump. And so, there are a lot of pieces here that investigators are trying to put together. We understand that the Tesla company is helping out law enforcement here with trying to retrieve more data and potential video from inside that Cybertruck, Jim.

[10:40:00]

ACOSTA: All right. Natasha Chen, thank you very much for that update. We appreciate it. Coming up in just about 90 minutes, a true test for Speaker Mike Johnson, whether he will have enough votes to retain that job up on Capitol Hill, the holdouts who could upend the process. So, we'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Back to our top story this morning, the speaker showdown up on Capitol Hill as Mike Johnson tries to hang on to the gavel. Will he be able to keep his defections to just one? That's all he can afford to lose at this point.

President-Elect Donald Trump just said this to CNN. I think the speaker will do very well. He's a fine man. He's a very fine individual. He's religious. He's smart. He's strong. This is according to the president-elect. Everybody likes him. Everybody respects him.

[10:45:00]

With me now is Larry Sabato. He's the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Larry, I guess a couple of questions, if I can ask him both at the same time. What is your take on whether Mike Johnson is going to hang on to his job as speaker? But I think, you know, one of the other more interesting questions here is this involvement of Donald Trump in the 11th hour, right before they take this vote, that shouldn't be necessary.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: It certainly should not be necessary, although there is a near tie in the House of Representatives between the two parties, and that's what makes this a special circumstance. But you would think an incoming president could quietly let certain members know of his views, wouldn't even have to post, wouldn't have to go on Truth Social, and that would be enough. And particularly an incumbent speaker who, while he has upset some people at sometimes, which speaker doesn't, he hasn't been terribly controversial as some prior Republican speakers have been.

So, it is remarkable, and Trump has had to weigh in over and over and over again using Capital that I'm sure he would rather spend on his first proposals. But, you know, Jim, what's really revealing, and I do think Johnson will get it in the end because of a lack of alternatives, look at the other leadership members. They've all got enemies. So, you know, who -- of course, they don't need a speaker from Congress. They could get someone outside Congress, but I don't think Jesus Christ is available and he's pretty liberal if you read his words. So, they're stuck with him. And they -- most of them are reasonably satisfied with him.

But what this really tells us is it's going to be a massive struggle for Trump and the new administration to get lots of things passed and quickly. They have factions just like the Democrats do. And you could argue that the Republican factions right now, since they've had so much victory, are tougher and more quarrelsome than the Democratic factions.

ACOSTA: Right. And I mean, John Boehner used to have an old line that went something along the lines of, if it's and butts were candy and nuts, what a wonderful world this would be. And you know, it seems to me going into this next Congress, Larry, that Mike Johnson is going to have just zero wiggle room when it comes to getting legislation passed. As you were just saying a few moments ago, Trump is claiming he has this large mandate, which obviously is not the case if you look at the numbers from the last election, but if he wants to get an ambitious agenda passed through the Congress, it's going to have to go through that House of Representatives and there just doesn't seem to be a lot of a lot of room there to get big pieces of legislation passed that, you know, adhere to the MAGA agenda.

SABATO: It doesn't, although that's where horse breeding comes in, and I'm sure that Trump and the speaker can offer this committee chairmanship to this one and some writer, you know, on the bill that funds a project in a district for someone else. They can manage to do it, but how many times can they manage to do it? And how are they going to rely on any Democratic votes?

Last time, the Democrats did help Johnson out. They helped him out several times, actually, in the last Congress. Why would they do that? They have no incentive to help Johnson and Trump this time around. ACOSTA: Right, especially if you've got midterms coming up and obviously, Hakeem Jeffries wants to get that speaker's gavel. And depending on what happens between now and then, I mean, we've seen in recent days, you know, you could have members potentially go by the wayside in all sorts of ways and then, just the numbers aren't there anymore. And maybe Hakeem Jeffries becomes a speaker.

Larry, we're short on time because we've got special coverage coming up, but always good to talk to you. We'll do it again very soon. Thanks, as always.

SABATO: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: Good to see you, Larry. All right. And our live coverage of the speaker vote is coming up at noon. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

ACOSTA: A dramatic standoff in South Korea as authorities try to detain the country's impeached president. Nearly 100 anti-corruption investigators entered the presidential compound in Seoul to detain President Yoon but were blocked by a human wall. Investigators then suspended efforts to enforce the arrest warrant. CNN's Mike Valerio has more on the chaos in South Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, the question now is this, what do prosecutors and investigators do to make sure that there is not a repeat of this again, or will they even try again to arrest South Korea's suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol?

But to give you an idea of the backdrop that we have right now, all the people, the hundreds of people who you see, standing a few blocks with all of their South Korean flags, those are supporters of South Korea's suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol.

And for his part, Yoon issued a clarion call as soon as this warrant for his arrest was issued on Tuesday, and he sent a letter to supporters, paraphrasing here, saying, hey, I need you all to come out and make it much harder for law enforcement to detain, make it much harder for law enforcement to arrest me. And they answered that clarion call.

So, fast forward to earlier this morning, we have not only his supporters, but the equivalent of South Korea's Secret Service protecting the president and refusing to turn over suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol to investigators. Investigators who want to hold him accountable for putting this country down the road of martial law, declaring martial law one month ago on December 3rd into the early morning hours of December 4th.

So, this is dealing with criminal charges. Meantime, we have new reporting that the suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has his first date of his impeachment trial. The first trial session of the impeachment saga, which is set for January 14th. So, in sum, we're waiting to see the next move, what will prosecutors and investigators do? Will they try again to bring South Korea's suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, into custody?

Mike Valerio, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[10:55:00]

ACOSTA: All right. Thanks to Mike. And thanks to everybody for joining us this morning. I'm Jim Acosta. I didn't get to say it on New Year's Day, but Happy New Year. Our next hour of Newsroom with Pamela Brown starts after a short break. Have a great weekend, everybody. Take care.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. And you are in the CNN Newsroom on this very busy day in Washington.

Right now, Speaker Mike Johnson is fighting to say in power --

[11:00:00]