Friday morning news: January 3, 2025

Speaker Johnson » Members of the 119th Congress of the United States will take the oath of office:

AUDIO: [2023]: So help you God? I do. Congratulations, you are now members

Sounds from the last swearing in ceremony two years ago.

House Speaker Mike Johnson today is fighting for his political life. His seat in the House is not in jeopardy, but his speakership most certainly is. Members will vote today on whether to reelect Johnson to the post.

The speaker says he’s had many conversations this week with some undecided or skeptical Republicans.

JOHNSON:  My conversations with my colleagues have gone great and a lot of members have come in very thoughtfully in good faith, you know, with process improvements and things they'd like to see differently.

President-elect Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Johnson. When asked what his message would be to Republican holdouts, Trump responded:

TRUMP:  He's the one that can win right now. People like him. Almost everybody likes him. Others are very good too, but they have 30 or 40 people that don’t like ‘em …

With a razor-thin GOP majority, Johnson will need to win virtually every Republican vote to hang onto the speaker’s gavel.

New Orleans latest » The FBI is no longer looking for additional suspects in connection to Wednesday’s deadly terror attack in New Orleans. Christopher Raia with the bureau’s Division of counterterrorism told reporters today:

RAIA: We do not assess at this point that anyone else is involved in this attack except for Shamsud-Din Jabbar.

That’s a reversal from the bureau's earlier assessment that the attacker likely did not act alone.

The death toll now stands at at least 14, revised slightly from earlier reports that 15 people were killed. Investigators say Jabbar, a 42-year-old Houston native and U.S. Army veteran, rammed a truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans and then brandished a gun and opened fire before police shot and killed him.

RAIA: This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act.

Police found an ISIS flag on the truck.

Las Vegas latest » Federal authorities have also been working to determine if there was any link between the New Orleans attack and a Cybertruck blown up in front Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas:

MAYORKAS:  The Federal Bureau of Investigation that is leading the investigation both in New Orleans and in Las Vegas, Nevada, has not found any connection between those two incidents.

Meantime police have revealed new information about the driver of the Cybertruck.

Authorities believe him to be 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger of Colorado.

Las Vegas County Sheriff Kevin McMahill:

MCMAHILL:  He was indeed in the United States Army. He was also a Green Beret operations sergeant who spent most of his time at Fort Carson, Colorado and in Germany.

The driver apparently shot himself in the head before the explosives in the truck were detonated.

McMahill said the perpetrator likely planned to cause more damage but the explosive was rudimentary and the steel-sided Cybertruck absorbed much of the force.

Israel latest » In Iran:

SOUND: [Chants in Tehran]

Chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" in Tehran yesterday as residents flocked to the Iranian capital to mark five years since the death of General Qassem Soleimani.

Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq in 20-20.

PEZESHKIAN: [Speaking Farsi]

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said it would have been a shame for someone like Soleimani to die in bed instead of—in his words—being martyred. He goes on to call the governments of America and Israel "barbaric, anti-human liars."

China-Taiwan » Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has pledged to strengthen the island’s defenses in the face of escalating Chinese threats. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Lai said in a New Year’s address this week that Taiwan was a crucial part of the “line of defense of democracy” globally.

He added that “authoritarian countries such as China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are still collaborating to threaten the international order.”

China claims Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy, is part of its territory and has vowed to annex the island … by force if necessary.

 Taiwan's defense ministry said Chinese warplanes and warships had carried out the first “combat patrol of the new year around the island.”

Lai  again expressed his willingness to talk with Beijing. But earlier appeals have been rebuffed.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Trump pre-inauguration rally Donald Trump is expected to hold a big Washington rally the day before he’s sworn in as the nation’s 47th president.

The victory rally, as it’s being billed, will be held at the Capitol One Arena in D.C. on Jan. 19th.

He’ll be inaugurated at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20th.

The arena seats roughly 20,000 people. Trump’s big outdoor events were limited in the months following an assassination attempt.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, notable figures from the world of arts and culture who died in 2024.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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