how close the restaurant is to what happened, which obviously was reason to shut down while all this played out and the investigation played out. right now we have a drone shot, melvin, of your restaurant, our flight team is up there and we see the balconys and people walking the sidewalks and we hope people are coming back. fast forward the super bowl and mardi gras coming up. can the city be safe? how do you feel about all that? >> yeah, certainly it can be safe. we showed that yesterday. i don't think there was a safer place in the city yesterday than where i'm standing right now. and moving forward, out of tragedy can come opportunity, no doubt about that and learning moments that i know we'll capture. i know the support that we have from the city, all of the agencies that are willing to step up, the governor and the state of louisiana as well as federal partners, you know, i

feel great about where we are and what is going to happen. >> sandra: looks like you might be getting a food delivery now, melvin. a truck pulling outside. our best to you, good luck and hang in there. it has been a lot but go to that restaurant. it is a special place. thanks, melvin. a big day in washington. the 119th congress is kicking off its term. the first order of business, of course, is electing a speaker. that's where we are at the top of a brand-new hour. welcome to the second hour of "america's newsroom," i'm sandra smith. bill and dana are off today. bill, great to be with you. >> bill: a lot happening in the upcoming hours. i'm bill melugin. securing the gavel could be a lot easier said than done. speaker mike johnson is looking to hold onto his title. with republicans holding a narrow majority, johnson can only afford one single gop defection and several lawmakers

are still uncommitted. >> sandra: it could delay the trump agenda. jim jordan is encouraging republicans to fall in line. >> november 5th the american people said secure the border, bring down prices, bring down crime and stop the weaponization of government against we the people. the best way to get it done is to come together today, unite behind speaker johnson and start working with president trump to accomplish what the people told us to do. >> bill: john thune is here for his first interview since being recognized as senate majority leader but first to aishah hasnie live on capitol hill. you are dialed in big time on capitol hill. are we looking at any potential drama today with this vote? >> there could be, you never know with this house. i can tell you i have seen a lot of families here and kids of these representative-elects. they are here to watch their moms and dads become the next members of congress. there is a lot of uncertainty in

the air right now. we don't know what will happen in the next few hours here. right now there is at least one official republican no vote. thomas massie. speaker mike johnson can't afford any more defections. we do know, fox is told there could be upwards of 12 to even 27 republicans who might vote for someone else. might i want to put a big emphasis on that word. we won't know until the vote begins around noon today. johnson has been meeting behind closed doors with these hold-outs talking about everything from the way the house works to even cutting the deficit. congressman boebert threw something out there last night. interesting. she said johnson could secure the hold-outs and everybody's vote if he commits to making chip roy the chairman of the rules committee. johnson a few moments ago poured

cold water on that. >> i don't do anything in exchange for a vote other than commit to make this institution work as efficiently as possible. >> nobody else is vying for the speakership. good news for johnson. he has the endorsement of the president elect. a lot of republicans want to avoid the kevin mccarthy repeat. we went through 15 rounds of votes. the house was frozen for five days. this year the house has to certify the election on january 6th so there is added pressure on them. one more thing to keep in mind here. democrats are not expected to bail johnson out. leader hakeem jeffries says he will not get a single democrat to help him. johnson really has to bring in his entire conference today if he wants to seal the deal. we'll wait and watch. >> bill: the house certainly has not had a shortage of fireworks over the last couple of years, that's for sure.

aishah, we'll keep tabs on it and we know you will as well. great job. >> sandra: lawmakers demanding answers on the terror attack in new orleans after being briefed by the f.b.i. republicans urging the senate to confirm his national security picks as soon as possible. >> that has to be in place day one, guys, because this is a moment in transition of vulnerability and president trump is going to project, because he is a leader of strength, the narrative that we project on day one will be just as important. that's having our people in place. >> sandra: joining us now is south dakota republican john thune. thank you so much for joining us. first off your thoughts on all of this and what answers you are demanding at this moment. >> it's incredibly tragic as we all know, the enormous loss of life and those injured, our hearts and prayers go out to them and their families and they deserve answers and we intend to

get those answers and to make sure these types of attacks don't happen again in the future and why as has been pointed it is important we get president trump's nominees in place. key national security nominees and when you've got people who are inspired by terrorist organizations like isis in this country to do these types of things, we have to figure this out so that we can prevent these types of tragic attacks from happening in the future. >> sandra: knowing we were already seeing an elevated terror threat as wray detailed in march at a hearing. i put this question to secretary mayorkas last night. listen. >> he said the terror level threat is higher than before october 7th. so one might wonder why there hasn't been a change in policy that has led to that. >> there has been a change in policy. quite frankly the number of individuals encountered at our southern border on a daily basis now is lower than it was in

2019. the last year before the pandemic. we have the individuals already residents in the united states radicalized to violence by a foreign terrorist ideology. or over the last eight years what we've seen anti-government sentiment. >> sandra: not to mention a short time before that, mr. leader, president biden himself saying that the biggest threat to the homeland was white supremacy. is this an administration that has not adapted policy to the elevated terror threat that we're seeing in this country right now? >> sandra, they are completely out of step with reality and have been for a long time. which is why we so desperately need president trump and his team to get in place on january 20th. these guys have just completely missed the boat. too little too late. they said they responded. they didn't. this could have been fixed a long time ago. the incentive structure is come across the border and we'll wave

you in and we've seen the results of that and crime in our cities, the threat of terrorism in this country because of terrorists getting across the border. some apprehended but who knows how many getting acrows the border. we know this is a portal for a lot of bad things. the southern border has to be secured. job one for the new administration and this congress. we'll work with the president and his team to make sure it is. >> sandra: your colleague tom cotton detailed what he sees as the isis threats today. listen here. >> the biden administration for four years has stuck its head in the sand to the threat of islamic terrorism. with the f.b.i. they have had time to chase down every grandma in a red maga hat that attended president trump's rally four years ago or target parents who go to school boards or traditional catholics or pro-life protestors. >> sandra: you will speak on the senate floor later this afternoon as the senate convenes the 119th congress. excerpts of your speech i see

you are going to say what you see as providing for our nation's defense in an increasingly unstable world. explain to us that as we look at the growing threat from terrorist groups. >> it is a dangerous world, sandra and become increasingly dangerous as a result of failed policies of the biden-harris administration and a lack of strength projected on the global stage. you see it in the south pacific. middle east, southern border. these are all examples of failures of policy by this current administration and why we so desperately need the trump administration to come in to project strength on the world stage where people again respect the united states and understand what is at stake when it comes to america's national security interests. we'll be working with the administration to get our military readiness in place where it should be after years of underfunding by the biden administration. >> sandra: i'll finish off by

playing out the sound from senator mull-in, the republican from oklahoma. what is going to happen and what is at stake with president-elect trump's national security picks. he is suggesting democrats will resist these trump nominees. listen. >> what is aggravating to me is these same democrats complaining saying these cabinet picks and director picks are not qualified are the same people that literally put in pete buttigieg over secretary of transportation, his only qualification was to be mayor. >> sandra: what are we about to see on this front? >> we've got the president has a number of nominees in key positions and do everything we can in the senate. we have the advice and consent rule here in the united states senate and perform that and have these hearings, allow people to ask questions and then we'll move very quickly to see that president trump has his team in place. especially, sandra, in those key

national security positions as we look and see what happened just the last couple of days here in this country and as we see what's happening in an increasingly dangerous world. >> sandra: are you getting the sense that there will be big resistance from dem yachts? >> i think there will be. they'll do everything they can to thwart, block, slow down, delay president trump and his agenda. we have to double down and why we have to be united as a team. republicans in house, senate and white house working together to get an agenda across the finish line despite what will clearly be a lot of i think very loud democrat resistance. >> sandra: appreciate you coming on today. thank you very much. >> good to be with you. >> bill: sandra, president biden has reportedly been given options for striking iran's nuclear program if tehran moves closer to getting a bomb. would he do so before trump is inaugurated in a little more than two weeks? rich edson is joining us live in

washington with the details. what are we hearing? >> good morning, senior biden administrations officials discussed it several weeks ago. national security advisor jake sullivan presented president biden with a plan to attack iran's nuclear facilities if they rushed to build a nuclear weapon before the inauguration according to a report in axios. the national security council offered no comment. the report says the president did not green light the attack during that meeting and has not done so since. biden did hone in on whether iran has taken steps for a dramatic military strike a few weeks before the transfer of power here in the united states. the thinking behind an attack, israel has degraded iran's air defenses andegional militias, last month antony blinken warned iran against pursuing a nuclear weapon. >> they've lost different tools. they've lost different lines of defense, sure, you will see more thinking about that.

the consequences to them for pursuing that route i think would be severe. >> iran has built up its nuclear program during the biden administration. to contain it biden tried restarting the nuclear agreement the trump administration scuttled. iran refused to rejoin. president trump's enjoy says the current administration will not attack iran. >> these are just words. nothing will happen with iran. they aren't going to do anything. this administration won't do anything in the near term. >> another source told axios there are no active discussions inside the white house about a possible military action against iran's nuclear facilities. bill. >> bill: hitting iran with a couple weeks to go would be quite a thing if that were to ever play out. rich, thank you. >> our political leadership has to play close intelligence to

the intelligence picture and don't take our eye off the ball. >> sandra: new orleans terror attack putting the spotlight on threats to our national security. has the biden-harris administration dropped the ball on this? incoming border czar tom homan will be here next. >> the airplane departed about 2:00 p.m. this afternoon. climbed straight ahead to 900 feet and a short time later the pilot called for an immediate return to the airport. >> dana: small plane crashes into a factory in southern california while hundreds of people were inside. we'll have new details on that ahead. crunch time on capitol hill. house speaker mike johnson facing a tough battle to keep the gavel. does he have the votes? >> you look back and forth negotiating. at the end of the day what you are negotiating against if you don't vote for johnson is the trump agenda, which most republicans were elected to make sure that that agenda promise

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>> sandra: two people are dead after a small plane crashed into a california factory building yesterday. investigators say the plane reported trouble almost immediately after it took off. >> a short time later the pilot called for an immediate return to the airport. the airplane then appeared to make a 180 degree left turn and went to the runway and crashed 1,000 feet short of runway 24. around 100 people were working in the factory. some were taken to the hospital with injuries but expected to

recover. >> not just the terrorist on the watch list we've caught, the thousands, hundreds of thousands of gotaways. so we have isis, we know for a fact we have hezbollah here, chinese soldiers here. you name it, the bad guy central is here in america. >> bill: the terror attack in new orleans is putting several threats to our national security into clear focus. to talk about it now is incoming border czar tom homan. great to see you as always. something you and i have talked about a million times at this point. the terror watch list numbers. these are the amount of people on the terror watch listen countered by cbp and border patrol in recent years. hundreds of people every year, record highs under the biden administration. these are the ones we know about. we've had over 2 million gotaways who snuck into the country during the biden administration. how many times we've been at the border with drone in the air and

watch these guys dressed in camouflage with carpet on their shoes to mask footprints running into the u.s. with not a single border patrol agent anywhere to be seen. you're worried one of these days we'll find out the hard way that bad apples have gotten into this country. >> absolutely, bill. if you look at the difference between the trump and biden administration, the arrests of people on the terrorist watch list has increased 3500% because the message we spent to the whole world our border is open . enter the country illegally. released in 24 hours. free plane ride to the city of your choice, free hotel room and give you free medical, free food and work authorization. so we send a message to the whole world it is okay to enter this country illegally. we had over 2 million known gotaways. we know for a fact that there are over 2 million people crossed the border, weren't apprehended, vetted or

fingerprinted. border patrol arrested people from 180 different countries since biden was president. many are sponsors of terror. if you don't think a single one didn't come from a country sponsoring terror you are a fool. the f.b.i. director agrees with me. the biggest national security vulnerability this nation has seen. we just arrested a couple months ago eight nationals from tajikistan planning a terrorist attack in the united states. the intelligence community got them before they made the efforts. >> bill: regarding those eight men, a handful were caught and released at the border and the federal government went oops, we found some derogatory information on them. isis ties and they had to go rearrest them. explain for the viewers at home. a lot of people have a false sense of security that everybody coming across the border is caught by bourp, get fingerprints run and pops up on a monitor, criminal record, bad guy. it doesn't work like that. half these countries we don't

have any type of diplomatic relations with so we can't run records to match them against anything. explain it for the folks at home a lot of these people coming in we can't vet them in the first place. >> when secretary mayorkas gets on the stage and says these people are properly vetted before they are released he is lying to the american people. they are vetted but not properly. they vet them against terror screening and criminal databases. we don't have access to most criminal database is around the world. most countries don't have it. when they say they vet them for criminal history they are looking at our systems. unless they had a criminal history in the united states we don't know what their criminal history is in their home country. in el val, we don't access their criminal history. they don't have it. terror screening database is, they run through that. here is what people need to know. most terrorists in the world aren't in any database unless they are part of a t-three,

chatter was caught on the wire. unless encountered on the battlefield by d.o.d. or bio met ickx were done. we don't know who most terrorists in this world are. under this administration, the biden administration, they're concerned about one thing. optics. all they care about is the optics of the crisis. they've been telling border patrol for four years, process and release quick. if there is no overcrowding we can say it is a secure border. when you process and release quick you don't have time to do a proper investigation or time to go through the pocket trash and find out the intelligence. you don't have time to deep dive and interview this person. you don't have time to wait for the f.b.i. vetting to even come back. several times the year they released people so quickly after they released you and i talk about this story, several times they came back hot after they were released several days later. this administration is all about quick process, however the trump administration, president trump the game changer who secured the

border highest level ever we will end catch and release. we have time to investigate these people and do a deep dive on everybody. >> bill: the man picked to clean up this. i know you are chomping at the bit to start getting this done. we'll talk again. >> can't wait for trump to get back and secure this border. >> when you refuse to call out radical islamic terrorism and punish it you get the events of october 7th, just this past week in new orleans. you get a resurgence of isis, you get al qaeda back, growing again after what happened in afghanistan. >> sandra: national security experts sounding the alarm after the rice of isis, the new orleans terror suspect was inspired by the terror group. attacks in new orleans and las vegas linked to the car sharing app turo and why the company is

facing scrutiny over security measures. >> it offers insurance but like most new technologies, it is also somewhat unregulated.

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>> bill: welcome back. the car sharing app turo is under intense scrutiny. the reason why? both vehicles rented from that platform in new orleans and las vegas. we have more on this. i had never even heard of this app before these incidents. fill us in. what is it exactly? >> well, it has been coined the airbnb of rental cars. rent a car directly from a person. vehicles you wouldn't find at traditional rental service like

a tesla. you do not have to see the car owner face-to-face to get the keys much like peer-to-peer platforms like airbnb. the car's owner my use their phone to unlock the car for you or give you the keys. this is not the first time their platforms are used to accomplish crime like smuggling drugs or robbery. i spoke to a former chief of detectives for chicago police who says platforms that allow -- the key to counter terrorism is to keep no human interaction. additionally less suspicion if law enforcement run to plates to see who they belong to and see they belong to a person and not a rental company.

>> when you have that face-to-face contact, you know, i need to see your driver's license, credit card, i need to see your proof of insurance, whatever it may be, those are additional -- those slow down the process, those throw off the roadblocks. >> turo is speaking out. a spokesperson saying in part quote we're actively partnering with law enforcement authorities as they investigate both incidents. we do not believe that either renter involved in the attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat. in the past year 3 1/2 million people booked a vehicle through turo per a recent company filing. >> bill: quite a coincidence were electric trucks rented through turo. thank you for the explanation. >> sandra: what assurances can

you give us that there are not more of these terrorists on the homeland today? >> so this does appear to be an individual, a u.s. citizen radicalized to violence by a foreign terrorist ideology. specifically the isis ideology. the isis goal is to have americans live in fear and we cannot allow them to succeed in that regard. >> sandra: that was mayorkas speaking to me yesterday about the radicalization of the new orleans terror suspect. that suspect acted alone in a deadly new year's day rampage. 100% inspired by isis according to the f.b.i. he flew the flag of the gr grou on the truck. does it show this administration is prioritizing fighting terror?

>> sandra, you know, as a young police officer i was trained to look at four things, people, places, things they do and the times they do them. we saw on wednesday morning the outcome of an attack and while that offender, that mess eveninger may be dead, the message is alive and well. we saw an individual in september, pakistani national attempting to travel to the united states from canada to undertake an attack. a shooter in my hometown in chicago that attacked a jewish man a month later. isis holiday message was a christmas tree, militant with a rifle and said make the holidays miserable. we need to make sure people aren't allowed to answer that call. we saw what happened in new orleans when they do. we need to make sure it doesn't happen again. >> sandra: a huge concern is about how many had been let in the country just in recent years.

mike pompeo sharing that concern earlier. here he is talking about the challenge that isis will pose for the incoming president-elect donald trump. listen. >> i fear not only are there folks members of isis or inspired by isis as we saw but there are planners, there are plans and people who might be activated. this is the task that president trump and his team will face. find them all. take down the networks. >> sandra: this will be a huge task. >> this is more than a fear, this is a reality. we had individuals november 3rd individuals associated with iran that were arrested planning active assassination attempts to include the incoming president of the united states. we know that this is an issue. it continues to be an issue. when you have people calling for the destruction of america on american streets on our campuses and they are being allowed to provide material support to a terrorist organization, a federally designated foreign

terrorist organization, they need to be incarcerated, they need to be arrested and charged. if they are not here legally or not a citizen, they need to be gone. that simple. it is logical. >> sandra: i ask you the question about priorities because it wasn't too long ago flashback 2021 when the president said this. president biden. >> president biden: according to the intelligence community, terrorism from white supremacy is the most lethal threat to the homeland today. not isis, not al qaeda, white supremacy. >> sandra: think about that. that was three years the president was barring that white supremacy was the biggest threat to the homeland. >> we work every da local, state and federal law enforcement and assess as an organization we're facing the most complex and dynamic threat environment ever faced. the individuals radicalized,

individuals willing to take attacks. their ideology spreads the gamut. we need to recognize that. the threat from isis and al qaeda hasn't gone away and supremacists hasn't gone away. we need to make sure we are taking in all of that, not overly focusing on one to the cost of the other. because american lives are at stake. we made over 1200 referrals to law enforcement this year alone. i can tell you every single one of those individuals regardless of their ideology wanted to take american lives. >> sandra: appreciate you joining us today. thank you. >> thank you. >> sandra: bill. >> bill: president biden is blocking a nearly $15 billion deal that would have allowed a japanese company to acquire u.s. steel. what's next for thousands of american steelworkers? we're weeks away from one of the world's biggest sporting events, the super bowl. will new orleans be ready to host the big event after the

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>> sandra: president biden rejecting a nearly $15 billion deal by a japanese buyer to take over u.s. steel. huge story we're following. fox business's grady trimble has more from the white house for us. >> sandra, president biden is blocking this deal because he says steel production that powers u.s. infrastructure. the auto industry and defense should be controlled by a u.s. company. here is part of his statement out this morning. he says we need major u.s. companies representing the major

share of u.s. steelmaking capacity to keep leading the fight on behalf of america's national interests. this acquisition would place one of america's largest steel producers under foreign control and create risk for our national security and our critical supply chains. even though japan is an ally and the company allowed the u.s. government to veto any reductions to the steel production biden rejected it. shareholders of the company had approved it. leadership at the steelworkers union and several pennsylvania lawmakers strongly opposed it. president-elect trump has also said he opposes the deal. but former secretary of state mike pompeo urged him to reconsider that position. >> it's good for the community. i hope they will all see that this is good. we want to build things here in america. president trump has said it

repeatedly. the steel company has been willing to invest. it makes total sense for national security. >> no reaction today from president-elect trump. a lot of steel makers in pennsylvania will be disappointed by this news. they wanted the deal to go through, sandra, because they thought it would protect their jobs. >> sandra: grady trimble with the update from the white house. grady, thank you. >> i want to reassure the public that the city of new orleans is not only ready for game day today, but we're ready to continue to host large-scale events in our city because we are built to host at every single turn. >> bill: the bourbon street terror attack is putting a focus on security ahead of next month's super bowl in new orleans. let's bring in former f.b.i. counter terrorism agent. thank you for your time today.

city says they're ready even though we had the terror attack this week. explain how the super bowl is a tier of its own with the amount of security that will be down there. >> secret service takes over an event like this. determined to be a national special security event. and when that happens that means there is a great deal of federal resources that are brought to bear for the security at an event like this. not just the super bowl but it is the primary sporting event that gets this level of protection. secret service comes in. f.b.i. comes in and f.b.i. handles intelligence, counter terrorism and any investigation that might occur if there is an event as well as crisis and consequence management with fema. the additional federal resources that come in including the military at times means that it is not an event like what we saw this week on bourbon street.

the locals don't have to handle it on their own and something the airspace is restricted around it. ingress and egress on roads, bridges and tunnels. it becomes a hardened target when it is made that. >> bill: a atf says they will have specialized teams employed ahead of it. >> national response team of atf is a team of certified fire explosive specialists, fire and electrical engineers. these resources will be in the city as we lead up to the super bowl and through mardi gras. >> bill: i guess the question i have are the atf resources going to be pro-active or reactive. will they be going through the area scanning looking for threats or are they going to be on hand ready for the phone call if somebody bad happens? >> it's more the latter.

response capability only because the secret service has the lead as the security planning entity. they are the ones that provide for the physical security and personnel security around the venue. so secret service personal unformed and secret service agents are working the event. they are the primary security focus. the f.b.i.'s primary role is before the event, intelligence gathering. atf is a federal partner with all the agencies and the capabilities you just heard mentioned are a response capability. if there is any kind of incendiary device, ied, anything like that, firearm, they investigate the sources and try to determine what, when, where and how along with the f.b.i. local and state partners. >> bill: the city of new orleans says they didn't have those steel barricades in place on bourbon street during the night of the terror attack because

they are currently being replaced with something better ahead of the super bowl. that is very unfortunate for the 14 people who passed away. for people going to the super bowl, should they feel confident or nervous in your opinion? >> well, you know, bill, the one thing we don't want to do is become the victims of terrorism. it's one thing to be the victim of a terror attack, you don't want to be a victim as a society of terrorism. they want to change us. so people have to be aware no matter where you are, any small event in a small town or big event in a huge city, you always have to have situational awareness. if you are aware of your surroundings. your head isn't down in your phone or ear buds where you can't hear or seeing anything around you people become victims. when we watch videos of the people struck, a lot of them weren't aware there was a car or truck racing towards them. so awareness is a big thing.

how you prevent yourself from becoming a victim and how we allow the see something, say something process to work. >> bill: we have to run. thank you for your time today. talk again soon. >> thank you, bill. >> hard work doesn't guarantee success but it improves your chances and mike johnson has worked his tail off as our speaker. i hope he gets reelected today. i think he will. >> dana: we're awaiting the speaker vote that gets underway when the 119th gavels in over an hour from now. the surgeon general dropping a bombshell between the links of alcohol and cancer.

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plus white house drenched with criticism, two tragedies, one in new orleans, the other las vegas on new year's aid fueling major concerns about terror threats inside the u.s. are president biden and his leaders capable of protecting us. "the faulkner focus" top of the hour. >> sandra: the u.s. surgeon general issued a new warning on the risk of cancer from drinking alcohol. william la jeunesse has the story from los angeles, for us. >> good morning. the top line is this. even moderate amounts of alcohol aren't good for you coming not just from the surgeon general but england, germany, canada have all lowered the amount of alcohol consumption considered safe. surgeon general said today that drinking increases your risk of cancer. breast, colorectal, esophagus, mouth, throat and liver cancer to hard alcohol, beer, wine and

increases the more you drink. the advisory saying this. public awareness of alcohol consumption was not improved over nearly two decades as the evidence documenting the link between alcohol consumption and cancer has increased. more people die of alcohol related cancer than auto accidents. new research about the risk of moderate alcohol consumption. a study found one drink a week may reduce your life span by five minutes. two drinks a week knock off two to three days and five glasses of wine, beer or hard alcohol a day could take two years off your life from causes like car accidents, cancer and heart disease. so the surgeon general wants an updated warning label on the bottle. that hasn't changed in 35 years.

we reached out today with several associations, alcohol related associations for comment and nothing so far. sandra. >> sandra: a lot to take in there. thank you very much, william. bill. >> bill: big day today. 119th conference hours away from gaveling in. members won't be sworn in until a speaker is elected. could be a nail biter. speaker johnson can only give up one vote. already one against him thomas massie. we'll follow the action when members gather at noon eastern time. sandra, great to be with you today. >> sandra: you as well. bret will be in for john this afternoon. we'll take you through the drama-filled afternoon on america reports. thank you for joining us. "the faulkner focus" now. >> harris: let's take a live look