what i'm watching for is the messaging. you know, what they're going to be prioritizing. skoe skoufis talked about reaching out to red-leaning states, but also, are they going to be talking about abandoning the messaging we've seen over the past four to eight years? or something new? the messaging is going to be important. >> messaging will be key. we'll be watching it all. julia manchester, national politics reporter for "the hill," thank you very, very much. >> thanks, symone. >> thanks for getting up "way too early" with us on this, i believe, thursday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. the guy in the pickup truck just punched the gas and mowed over the barricade and hit a petty cab, passengers, and there were just bodies and the screams. i mean, you can't -- you can't un-think about, you know,

un-hear that. it was chaos. very, very scary. >> this morning, a deadly new year's truck attack in new orleans is being investigated as an act of terrorism. a driver mowed into a crowd on bourbon street, killing 15 and injuring dozens more. we'll get a live report from new orleans in just a moment. plus, authorities are also investigating a tesla cybertruck explosion outside the trump international hotel outside vegas. what we're learning about that incident and any possible connection to what happened in new orleans. also ahead, tomorrow is the start of a new congress, and the first order of business is electing the next speaker of the house. will mike johnson have enough support to keep the gavel? good morning. it's -- welcome to "morning joe." it's thursday, january 2nd. i'm jonathan lemire in for joe,

mika, and willie. we do hope you had a happy new year. happy new year that began with sadness for so many. we begin this morning with the deadly new year's day attack in new orleans. we want to warn you, some of the footage you're about to see is disturbing. surveillance video shows the moment a man drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people celebrating the new year on bourbon street early yesterday morning. he drove onto a sidewalk, bypassing a police vehicle. at least 15 people were killed in the attack and 30 others injured. the driver then opened fire at police and died in the resulting shootout. two officers were also shot, but they are in stable condition. according to the fbi, the suspect was a 42-year-old u.s. citizen from texas. he had an isis flag mounted on the back of the truck that was used in the attack. officials are now looking into whether the terrorist group was

indeed involved. the vehicle was rented from the carsharing marketplace turo. there were explosive devices inside the truck and at least two ieds planted near the scene of the attack. two defense officials tell nbc news the suspect served in the army. he was deployed to afghanistan in 2009 and was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant in the year 2020. yesterday's attack was the deadliest act of a mass murder in the u.s. in more than a year. only a few of those killed have been identified so far. joining us now from new orleans is nbc news correspondent jesse kirsch. good to see you. what's the latest from the shaken city? >> reporter: good morning. i'm outside the super dome, set

to home the sugar bowl this afternoon. that game was initially supposed to be played yesterday, last night, but it's been postponed because of the events in the early hours of new year's day. this is set to be the host site for the super bowl in less than two months. a lot of attention on the security situation here right now. i can tell you that people coming to this game today are to expect heightened security measures. among them, people parking at the superdome itself are subject to security screenings. what we've seen in the less than 24 hours, when we got here yesterday morning, the barricades along the curb here stopped back there. now, they extend to the end of the curb. there were always going to be a lot of people watching this football game, but now it and the city are under the microscope for a very different reason. after the attack on bourbon street, questions about the barricades. bollards, short, stainless steel

posts are often used in high-profile areas of towns to control vehicles. on bourbon street, the bollards weren't there. the mayor explained that the system was in the midst of repairs. >> bollards were not up because they are near completion, with the expectation of being completed, of course, by super bowl. >> reporter: the game set to be played in new orleans next month. the superintendent of police says other barriers, like police vehicles and officers, were in place to secure bourbon street on new year's eve, but video shows how the attacker drove right around a patrol car. >> so we did indeed have a plan, but the terrorist defeated it. >> anything that is currently in the midst of being repaired had a backup replacement for last night. >> it had vehicles, and officers were there. where those bollards had been, we knew and we had it. like i said, in this particular

case, terrorist went around and up onto the sidewalk. >> was someone getting on a sidewalk considered impossible or nearly impossible, or was this not something you expected you'd have to account for? >> of course, it wasn't something we expected to account for. >> reporter: new orleans, the latest high-profile deadly ramming attack following the german christmas market attack last month, the one in 2016, and the one in nice, france, the same year. jose was visiting new orleans and left the area just before the attack. >> the metal barricades were not up. the standard plastic ones like you see there. there was police there at the entrance. a lot of police there. but the metal barricades were not up. >> reporter: a city website showing what the new bollards may look like says the project is set to be complete next month. a nationally televised college football playoff game is supposed to be played here. council member morano says the city is ready. >> can new orleans host a game here safely?

>> so many resources are being deployed down to the city of new orleans, that no doubt about it, we will host a safe game. everything from federal resources, state resources, additional intelligence, that's all happening. >> reporter: jonathan, i want to go back to the press conference exchange i had with police there for a moment. again, they say they did not think they needed to account for a vehicle going up on the sidewalk and plowing through bourbon street that way, but clearly, those gaps were wide enough for a vehicle to make its way up onto the curb and go down that very busy street on new year's morning. all of this is happening, again, with the super bowl set to be held here in less than two months. a lot of questions unanswered at this point about the security preparations and the thought that was going into that ahead of that major global event. back to you. >> yeah, it's hard to imagine. there will be questions about why the bollards weren't fewly

replaced and repaired ahead of new year's eve and these high-profile football games coming to new orleans. jesse kirsch, thank you so much. now joining us, nbc news national security analyst and special agent, clint watts. nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian. and co-host of "the weekend" on msnbc, you saw her host "way too early," symone sanders townsend. my thanks to all three of you. ken, let's start with you. what is the latest we know about this investigation and the suspect? a lot of real concern about possible connections to isis. what's the latest we know? >> good morning, jonathan. president biden said the suspect was inspired by isis, the president's words. he had been flying an isis flag on the back of the white pickup truck. but the more that emerges about this man, the more perplexing it is. he doesn't hit the profile of a

radicalized, isis terrorist. 42 years old, u.s. army veteran, six-figure job at an accounting firm, father of three children, twice married and divorced. appeared to have a mental break. his brother called it radicalization. there are reports he made facebook videos vowing to kill. president biden referred to that. shortly before he carried out this attack. one of the questions remaining, jonathan, in terms of the investigation, did he have accomplices? there has been a lot of confusion on this point. the fbi, assistant special agent in charge in new orleans, said clearly at a briefing yesterday, we don't believe he acted alone. other officials at the briefing said that they were on the lookout for other bad guys, as they put it. but after that briefing, we at nbc news had some reporting. we talked to senior law enforcement officials who said that may have been based on a misunderstanding of some surveillance video. they were looking at video that they thought showed other people

planting two of the ieds they found in new orleans, but it turns out those people were just bystanders. they'd been ruled out as suspects. so they don't have additional suspects, is our understanding in this case. they're not ruling out that he had help or he was in touch with people online, but right now, there are different theories. some law enforcement officials believe he did act alone and that's how it'll end up. again, they're not saying that definitively right now. but the idea there were definitely dangerous people in new orleans that led them to postpone the sugar bowl football game last night, that appears not to be the case, jonathan. >> ken just mentioned some remarks from president biden last night. let's play those now. >> i know i can speak for all americans when i say, our hearts are with the people in new orleans after the despicable attack that occurred in the early morning hours. to all the families of those that were killed, to all those who were injured, to all the

people in new orleans who are grieving today, i want you to know, i grieve with you. our nation grieves with you. we're going to stand with you as you mourn and as you heal in the weeks to come. the fbi also reported to me that mere hours before the attack, he posted videos on social media indicating that he was inspired by isis, especially with a desire to kill, desire to kill. >> that was president biden last night at camp david. clint, let's seize upon the phrase he used there, inspired by isis. you know, obviously, isis has been dealt major blows in recent years after a spade of successful attacks in the u.s. and europe, but there's been a sense they've been sort of reconstituting, gathering in strength. but inspired by isis, that could mean any number of things, and not necessarily a direct connection between an overseas terror group and an individual, a u.s. citizen here.

talk more about the isis component here and just how dangerous it is that simply a vehicle could be turned into a vehicle. >> that's right. jonathan, we rewind ten years. we were talking about a spectrum of attacks. we'd say they're directed by a terrorist group. networked or enabled by a terrorist group through facilitation, sometimes online, or inspired. someone takes up the cause and the ideology. they decide to do something. they come up with a plot, the place, and the devices. when we're looking at this, yesterday, that initial report that ken was talking about, you think, well, maybe this is a larger network of operatives that could be really pushed by an isis affiliate. what we've seen in the last two years is a couple things. one, syria today, we have the original location where isis was formed. complete instability in a power vacuum. afghanistan, isis-k is the regional player and has done regional terror attacks, could maybe facilitate this. across the board, looking at the evidence so far, we're not seeing any strong linkages to

isis. as ken noted, you're seeing a lot of things that might point to psychological factors. financial difficulties, professional failures. adding that to a late sort of notice or discussion of isis. i think looking at this, it is not showing networked at this point, more inspired. even that inspiration, it's a little bit thin at the moment. normally in these cases, when we see isis inspired, we see a longer history of someone talking about isis, a lot more witnesses or others that know about it. maybe that will come out today as the investigation proceeds. >> ken, let's talk about the next steps of the investigation. what are investigators looking at today as they comb through the suspect's past, and also to jesse's reporting earlier, what have you heard in terms of measures being taken to really harden security at new orleans for a high-profile football game later today? then, arguably, the biggest event on the american calendar, the super bowl in just over a month? >> yeah, in terms of the

security measures, the super bowl has a special designation. normally, it's a national special security event. it doesn't have that designation this year but has sear-1, which calls for the fbi and homeland security and other agencies to come in there with a kind of maximalist security profile. so we can all be sure that the security posture for the super bowl will be dramatic. in terms of what they're doing for the sugar bowl tonight, no doubt, they're responding and they're going to bring in, you know, trucks and other things to make up for the lack of those bollards, which, ironically, they were working on and trying to replace in time for the super bowl. but they weren't ready for this event, obviously. cities tend to respond, sadly, after something like this happens. they bring in all sorts of security. in terms of where the investigation goes now, you know, we saw that the fbi and the fbi acknowledged last night they served a search warrant and were at this suspect's residence

in houston for a long time yesterday, may still be there. they're scouring his residence, his digital profile, talking to relatives. his brother gave an interview to "the new york times." there are people that know a lot about this suspect that they are talking to, and their gain goal right now is to try to figure out whether he was in touch with anybody from isis, as clint eluded to, or whether he had accomplices at all, and what actually happened. what led to this? what was the motive here? they want to figure out how they can prevent this thing. that's where the investigation is going. of course, they have not ruled out a connection with the bizarre incident in las vegas with the cyber truck. there's no evidence of a connection, but investigators in both cases are saying they haven't ruled it out. they're looking to see if there is any connection there, jonathan. >> we'll dive into that story in a moment. first, we're also learning more about some of the victims who were tragically killed in the new orleans attack.

a princeton graduate, father of two, inspiring nurse, a young mother, their lived cut far too short as they celebrated the promise of a new year. the majority of those killed were local residents, from the new orleans area. here is martin "tiger" bech. he grew up in lafayette, louisiana, and garage raduated princeton university. he was living in new york city and working on wall street. martin played football at princeton and trained with his younger brother, jack. martin was on bourbon street with his princeton teammate, ryan quigley, who was injured in the attack. martin's mother said that his death now leaves a huge void in their lives. reggie hunter was just 37 years old. he was from baton rouge. reggie was the ther of two boys, ages 1 and just 1. he worked as the manager at a warehouse. he is described by his cousin as an awesome person with a big

heart. this is 18-year-old nikyra nikyra cheyenne dedeaux, a recent high school graduate from gulf port, mississippi. she was with her cousin celebrating the new year. later this month, she was set to start college and planned on studying nursing. her mother is asking for our prayers at this time. matthew tenedorio was only 25 years old. he was born in mineola, new york, but lived in mississippi. he had dinner with his mother tuesday night before going to celebrate new year's with his friends. the next time she saw him was at the morgue. his mother said he had the dreams of someday working at the superdome there in new orleans. this is nicole perez. she was only 27 years old. she managed a deli near new orleans. nicole leaves behind a 5-year-old son. her employer remembered her as a really good mom.

lastly, hubert gothroe was 21 years old. a statement from his high school in louisiana is asking for prayers during this difficult time. symone, obviously, in a moment like this, something so terrible and so scary, it is easy to focus on the suspect. why did he do it? why did he take these lives? there is never a good answer. these are americans, like you and i, celebrating the new year, trying to ring in the promise of 2025, fresh starts perhaps, new beginnings. celebrating with loved ones. senselessly, no good reason, their lives cut short. >> lives cut very short. it's so hard to read, jonathan. i had to read that -- i read it earlier today. i cried as i was reading it. i think it is very important

that we remember the people at the center of every single story we're telling. the center of every single news story, the center of every controversy. these terrible, senseless acts of violence, they affect real people. in this particular day and age in our politics, i think it is very easy to get caught up in the back and forth, if you will. the remarks president-elect trump made on his social media site where he incorrectly identified the shooter as an immigrant, right? it's really easy to get mired down in the politics. always, we must take a step back and remember that there are people, there are children who are going to grow up without their mothers and fathers. there are parents who are missing their sons and daughters. there are friends and family members who are now grieving and don't know what to do with all of these feelings. there are first responders who are now questioning, could we

have done a little bit more to maybe save another life? there are people who survived the attack whom were with people who did not come home, who are grappling with, why them? we need to take a step back, i think, give each other grace, and remember there are always people at the center of every single one of these stories. >> i couldn't agree more with what you said, and you're right, what president-elect trump did yesterday, deeply irresponsible if not surprising. we should never lose sight of, these are people. there are now empty places at the dinner table, children without parents, parents without their sons or daughters, loved ones gone. we will have more on that, of course, as the morning continues. we should also now turn to las vegas. as ken mentioned. meanwhile, authorities are working to determine whether or not there is a connection between the attack in new orleans in this other incident involving a vehicle in the nevada city. just hours after the bourbon street attack, a tesla cyber

truck exploded and burst into flames just outside the entrance of the trump international hotel. it's just off the vegas strip. here is video here. the fire killed one person inside the car and injured several others standing nearby. according to three senior law enforcement members, the blast is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack. the driver of the cyber truck drove the vehicle from colorado to las vegas early wednesday morning, and after reaching the hotel, the vehicle exploded 15 seconds later. according to the las vegas sheriff, at the moment, police have not released the identity of the person inside the vehicle. in a post on x, elon musk wrote that tesla was investigating the matter. clint, let's talk about this. obviously, you know, elon musk, a top adviser to donald trump. it's a musk vehicle outside a trump hotel. that's one possible motive here. we should be clear, authorities don't seem to know much about

what this was about. what's the latest you've heard about possible -- about possible connections to new orleans, and what do you think the intention of this driver was? >> yeah, two things that we know. it happened on the same day, less than 12 hours apart. the second part is this rental app, the app used to get this vehicle. the turo app, i hadn't heard of it until yesterday, and then it was twice. there was some question last night, why is this being investigated as terrorism? what is terrorism? the use of violence, threat of violence for political, social, religious change. you're looking at president-elect trump's property. you're looking at his chief supporter's brand for a vehicle. putting that together, it's a natural place to look. today, i'm curious what the driver of this vehicle, where they're going to be from. did they have any sort of connections to any other

extremist group? in terms of the identity, what's the history of that individual? if there is a broader network between any of these two attacks, i think that's really where investigators are going to go in the next few hours. hopefully we'll know more about this attack today. >> opefully we'll learn more in the hours ahead. ken dilanian, thank you so much for being with us this morning. we appreciate it. time for a look at the other stories making headlines today. the man shoved off a new york city subway platform on tuesday has a fractured skull, four broken ribs, and other injuries. fortunately, he survived. he's even speaking to his family from a hospital bed. police say joseph linskey was struck by a train after a suspect, a 23-year-old named kamell hawkins violently shoved him onto the tracks. it was caught on video. terrifying footage. hawkins is charged with attempted murder in the second

degree and four counts of assault. he stepped behind the victim and pushed him in front of an oncoming train. unlawful border crossings across the u.s./mexico border dropped to a four-year low. it's an 18% decrease from the previous month. federal officials cite enhanced enforcement efforts and executive actions for the decline. president-elect trump has made cracking down on undocumented immigration a top priority of his new administration. actor and director justin baldini is suing "the new york times" amid his public feud with blake lively, his co-star in "it ends with us." he claims the paper defamed him and his pub licist in an articl last month with lively's allegations, being the victim of

a smear campaign. she said baldoni smeared her after complaining. he is now suing "the times" for $250 million, saying it deliberately left out key details to its reporting. coming up on "morning joe," following the new orleans attack, lawmakers on capitol hill want answers from homeland security and the fbi on how this happened. we'll dig into that. plus, the future of house speaker mike johnson hangs in the balance as republican support on the hill continues to waver. "the hill's" mychael schnell will break down johnson's tough fight to retain the gavel. also ahead, steve rattner is standing by with his charts on the two major issues that dominated the year 2024. "morning joe" will be right back.

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welcome back. house lawmakers will vote whether to re-elect mike johnson as speaker tomorrow, and president-elect trump is now calling on republicans to fall in line and support him. speaking to reporters from his mar-a-lago estate on new year's eve, trump said he'd be willing, if necessary, to make calls to lawmakers to drum up support for johnson in order to help him keep the gavel. >> they'll support speaker johnson. i think we'll have a great time in washington, and i think we'll get great support. 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 him. that's pretty tough. we're going to get a successful vote. he's a good man. he's a very wonderful person, and that's what you need. >> because of the gop's slim majority, johnson can only afford to lose one vote tomorrow. republican congressman thomas massie already came out against johnson. no other republican publicly said they'd vote against the speaker, but some questioned whether johnson will get enough support to stay in power. joining us now, congressional reporter for "the hill," mychael schnell. good morning. good to see you. donald trump, the president-elect, had been content to let johnson sort of twist in the wind for a week or so there after the fight over the continuing resolution, the spending measure. now, he is supporting johnson. talk to us about what sort of difference that might make, and what's the latest you've heard in terms of the whip count,

whether there are simply enough votes to get him through. >> hey, jonathan. good morning and happy new year. trump's endorsement did finally come a few days ago, and you're right, president-elect trump was essentially letting johnson twist in the wind after he gummed up that government funding process late last month. his endorsement is helping to shore up some support. we have seen some hard line republicans now throw their backing behind johnson. for example, congressman josh, it's two members of the freedom caucus. it's not unanimous. you mentioned thomas massie, republican from kentucky, was always against johnson and reupped the opposition, even after the trump endorsement. we're hearing from a handful of other republicans that they still remain undecided and unswayed by president-elect trump's endorsement. people like chip roy, scott perry, andy harris, andy biggs.

we're seeing these folks with their cards close to their vest. the whip count is difficult to say because some of the lawmakers remain undecided. even that in itself is a problem for mike johnson. beforehand, before kevin mccarthy, the speaker races used to be routine. more ceremonial processes pause the conference, whether it was democrats or republicans, were really united around their nominee. obviously, that was not the case with kevin mccarthy. it is obviously not the case this time around. so any of that discontent and skepticism is a problem for mike johnson, and you said it correctly, he can only afford to lose one vote. he can't lose any other votes, other than thomas massie, if all republicans and democrats are in the chamber and vote for a specific candidate. right now, johnson is in trouble. >> johnson is the speaker because the former speaker, kevin mccarthy, was ousted after changing the rules to allow for one member to call for a vote in

removing the speaker. well, now these new house rules that speaker johnson and steve scalise have unveiled, and the other republican leadership, they changed the threshold to nine. can you talk about the dynamics currently within the republican conference, and how they arrived at that number? >> that's right. symone, that was a sensitive negotiation that went on. it came together, rather, in november, right before the speaker election, right before republicans came around. remember, unanimously, they nominated johnson to be speaker then. there were negotiations between the conservative house freedom caucus, who we frequently hear about, and then the main street caucus, which calls themselves more of a pragmatic group. that group negotiated the nine-member threshold for motion to vacate. members in the main street caucus wanted to increase that threshold from one member because we saw what happened to kevin mccarthy back in 2023. former congressman matt gaetz brought a motion to vacate that was successful.

members of the hard line freedom caucus did not want to bring it up too much. they negotiated this nine-member threshold. the thought being that if there is enough support to oust the speaker, it'd rise above the nine-person threshold. right now, it does not seem like, there is no indication, rather, that lowering that threshold once again is on the table. of course, that was one of the linchpins that led to former speaker kevin mccarthy's success back in early 2023 when he first tried to get the speaker ship. right now, though, i haven't heard from any hard line conservatives that they're pushing for that threshold to be lowered. of course, anything can change. these are tenuous negotiations and there's not a lot of time before the speaker's race tomorrow. if johnson fails on the first ballot, he is going to be feverishly trying to talk to his colleagues to get to a resolution. at this moment, it does not seem like lowering the threshold for motion to vacate is on the table or even a request among hard liners who are holding out. >> on the topic of congress, also the attack in new orleans could be investigated on capitol

hill now. republican senator josh hawley of ouri is requesting mayorkas and wray testify in front of the center. he says the secretary of homeland security and the outgoing fbi director respectively should provide answers about what happened. let's talk about the possibility that politics will get involved here with these investigations, but also there is a growing theory in the hours after the attack on the right that if there's a new focus on terrorism, on national security, that might ease the confirmation process for some of donald trump's picks for posts in that realm, including fbi director patel, the attorney general pick, pam bondi, tulsi gabbard, national security, and perhaps even pete hegseth at defense. >> it's not so much a theory on the right. it's something we're hearing folks push for. we heard from senator john thune yesterday, who was, of course, the incoming senate republican leader, going to be a key figure in all these conversations about

confirmation hearings and votes. john thune himself said in a statement following the two strategies yesterday, saying, this is a clear reason why we need to expeditiously confirm trump's national security nominees. as you mentioned, that group includes some of the most controversial of the few. pete hegseth, tulsi gabbard, kash patel. we're currently starting to see some dates for when these confirmation hearings will happen. we heard that pete hegseth's will be january 14th. unclear when the others are take place. i suspect we'll hear, trump's team needs to be ready and installed to take on these challenges. whether or not that will be convincing enough for a smooth confirmation process, unclear. we know all the nominees carry their fair share of baggage, and more could come out during the

hearings. it's a volatile situation at the moment. >> a lot of business upcoming on the hill when they return tomorrow, starting with that speaker election. congressional reporter for "the hill," mychael schnell, thank you, again. as we mentioned, the fbi says the man accused of killing 15 people in new orleans had an islamic state flag in his truck. as "the new york times" reminds us, e terrorist group, isis, has left a legacy of death and destruction across the world. though the group no longer controls significant territory in the middle east, it continues to launch attacks around the world and inspires believers of its ideology to carry out atrocities of their own. joining us now, columnist and associate editor of "the washington post," david ignatius. great to see you. let's talk about the state of isis, if you will, here in 2025. nowhere near the height of their powers of a decade or so ago, but still potent. i know national security experts we've been talking to over the

last year say it has sort of regained some strength. talk to us about isis, and then what do we know about any connections with this man who carried out this attack? >> jonathan, isis itself, the caliphate, as it declared itself, is in ruins. i walked the ruined buildings of raqqah, what was their capital city in syria. it's obliterated. it looks like the pictures you see of gaza. it was destroyed by a coalition of the united states and its syrian kurdish i allies over a period of several years. but the idea remains potent in online media. the fear increasingly among counterterrorism officials has been about virtual recruitment, virtual guidance. people don't go to training camps. they don't go to the caliphate in syria now, but they have available online resources that, as president biden said, inspire

them to these acts of violence. i noted with interest that the head of the national counterterrorism center said in november in a speech at one of the washington thinktanks that vehicle ramming, the very technique that we saw used by this apparently isis-inspired actor in new orleans, was increasingly one of the weapons of choice of these lone wolf actors, inspired by isis. are there specific materials instructing people how to engage in vehicle ramming operations? that's the kind of thing i think we're going to see the fbi and other agencies digging into carefully. but the difficulty of addressing this problem is the networks are largely online. the agencies rely on cooperative people in muslim and other communities in the united states

who will report unusual behavior, who will say, there's somebody in our community who is causing concern or suspicion. that was often the way people identified suspects. final point, jonathan, is that the fbi has been conducting an extraordinary number of operations, stings really, to draw out people who are potential violent terrorists. there was an election day plot that was uncovered in oklahoma city involving a person who had served, in his case, as a cia assistant in afghanistan, who was purchasing materials for a plot that he planned to conduct. turned out he was purchasing them from fbi plants, and that's why the plot was rolled up. the fbi had many operations like that to go after isis-k, the spin-off of this group, which was thought for a time to be wandering free in the united states, getting ready to conduct

operations. i think this is a new challenge, but the point would be, even as the isis capital, strongholds are destroyed, the idea remains powerful on social media. that's the arena in which it'll have to be contested. >> david, just looking back over the last year, we were very focused here at home in 2024, looking at 2025, rewind ten years, we talk about three places with terrorism. afghanistan, pakistan, syria, iraq, yemen. looking at these places now, al qaeda and isis, we're hearing some of the rumors there could be a resurgence. now in charge in syria in many ways. how do you feel in general going into 2025? do you see this as a resurgent year for international terrorism maybe moving back to what we saw ten years ago, or are each of

the battlefields limited and not really projecting in terms of international terrorism? >> clint, i know you saw, as i did, the statement many months ago, back in april by fbi director chris wray, that he'd never seen a moment in which there were so many potential threats against the homeland to worry about. that's, in part, a result of the number of conflicts that have been taking place in the middle east. we have now syria, a country struggling to be reborn. it's hard not to be joyous if you knew the regime of bashar al assad. but it is true, the opposition leader, the seeming leader of the new government has deep roots in what was an al qaeda offshoot. would have been seen as somebody who might have been a recruiter for terrorist operations. he's insisted now for years he has no intention of outside

operations. the issue our law enforcement intelligence will want to focus on, is jalani ready to cooperate with western intelligence agencies to identify and imprison potential actors who might go against the united states? i'll mention one final point. crucial for president trump and his new administration, there are several thousands of the most hardened isis terrorists, people who conducted operations throughout syria and the middle east, who are now in prison camps, being held by relatively small groups of syrian kurdish guards, assisted by u.s. special forces operators. trump in the past said that u.s. presence should be removed. if it was, those prison camps

might well blow wide open with thousands of the most dangerous people on the shores of the mediterranean, in syria, potentially ready to threaten europe and perhaps beyond. that's one thing your viewers should think carefully about. it's a real decision for president trump. what does he do about people he's said in the past he thought should leave, but who may be crucial in this next phase of trying to contain rrorism. >> david, while we have you, there's so much overseas. stay with us a moment. beginning with the war in the middle east, which is grinding into a new year. gaza's health ministry says that israel struck several targets in recent days, killing at least a dozen palestinians, mostly women and children. israel's military says it eliminated hamas fighters. israel's defense minister warned in a statement yesterday that hamas will, quote, suffer blows of a magnitude not seen in gaza for a long time. if it doesn't soon release the remaining hostages and stop firing at israel. to europe now.

ukraine is refusing to extend a possible deal that brought russian gas supplies to europe. an existing transit agreement expired the end of 2024. ukraine says moscow was using the money to fund its ongoing war. this represents the end to one of the last remaining energy links between russia and what was once its biggest market. stay tuned for developments there. and china's leader is using the new year to threaten taiwan. in a wide-ranging speech he delivered on tuesday, chinese president xi jinping said no one can stop the reunification of the motherland. china has long wanted to take control of that island nation. as "the washington post" reports, xi's warning comes after the united states increased arm sales to taiwan and follows tie china's large-scale military drills in october. david, let's focus you there, on this situation. bellicose words from president xi, coming just three weeks

until donald trump comes to office. trump has vacillated on how much support he thinks the united states should supply taiwan. what's your read on this situation? >> simply put, i think president xi is trying to demonstrate both the military capability and some exercises that took place in december at a scale that we haven't seen for a long time in the taiwan strait, and in his rhetoric, a commitment to try to move, alter the status quo on taiwan, and move toward reunification, which is -- it has been his goal announced now for years, which he'd love to complete during his time as president of china. it's a huge question for trump. he prided himself in the first term on having a personal relationship with president xi jinping. in some ways, that was the centerpiece of his china policy. many of his closest advisors, as

he prepares to take office, are china hawks. his national security adviser has been warning about growing chinese power, the threat to take over taiwan by force. there again, president-elect trump is going to have big decisions early on, and xi in a sense is saying, you're going to have to choose. because we're coming at you hard. >> yeah, a great point. a relationship to watch in the weeks ahead. "the washington post"'s david ignatius, thank you. we really appreciate it. up next here on "morning joe," we'll go over how the economy performed during the biden administration versus the trump term when it came to inflation, gdp, and jobs. and what we can all expect this year. "morning joe" will be right back with that. t back with that.

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♪♪ beautiful shot there. the sun starting to come up in washington, d.c., a little bit before 7:00 a.m. here on the second day of 2025. for more than a decade, "morning joe" economic analyst steve rattner published a compilation of charts for "the new york times," breaking ing down the significant events in the "year in charts opinion essay." this year, it touches everything from the economy to immigration. steve joins us with his first

charts of the new year. good to see you. let's run through some of the top issues for 2024. tell us about the first chart. >> sure, jonathan. obviously, we had an election. we had a change of presidents. it's a good time to compare the record of these two presidents. one outgoing and one incoming, but also, of course, a previous president. first, let's look at the central measure of the economy's strength, gdp. you can see that both trump and biden had pretty steady gdp. trump, of course, did have covid. but biden is leading trump with a really strong economy. in fact, even if you exclude the effects of covid, biden's performance in the gdp was really quite strong, over 2% growth. going in with a tailwind. similarly on jobs, biden really has created a huge amount of jobs. he created over 7 million jobs, about 165,000 a month during his term. actually, more than trump really, even before covid hurt him in the end. biden was, in fact, a jobs

president. now, we all know inflation was a big issue in this campaign and it's been a real sore spot for the biden administration. we did have inflation getting up over 7%. a lot of that was covid related. of course, there were some policy things that maybe were not ideal. but inflation has come almost all the way down to the fed's 2 % target. biden is leading trump with an inflation rate that is pretty low and gives trump a lot of freedom of movement. finally, of course, trump thinks the s&p is one of the best measures of success of a president. he watches it so closely. in fact, interestingly enough, the s&p was up by almost identical amounts under biden and trump, 56%. so they both turned out to be great stock market presidents. >> as we've said so often on this show, the strong economy that donald trump inherited, and now barack obama and now he's doing it again from joe biden, who did oversee a lot of growth. let's turn to your second chart, steve, where you highlight how

the border and climate change were major issues in the year that was. >> exactly right. of course, jonathan. the border was not biden's finest moment, frankly. you can see what happened here. trump is not wrong when we talks about how border crossings were quite low. they're running about 74,000 a month when he left office. they, in fact, did shoot up. some of it was some things biden said, and some ways they put a moratorium, for example, on deportations. but, in fact, we did get up here almost to 300,000 a month. what maybe people don't entirely know is that border crossings have come back down almost to where they were under trump. they're running about 100,000 at the moment. we went up the hill and went down the hill, but, unfortunately, that was costly to biden during the election. climate should have been a more important issue in people's minds. i wish it were. the numbers are really frightening. you can see that 2023/2024, these are all the years of climate going back to 1850.

they're colorcolor coded. these are the earlier periods, consistent timeframe, and then takes a huge trump. 2024 was the warmest year in history. both 2024, so far above anything we'd seen previously. this needs to be a major issue going forward. >> steve, what about a.i.? a.i. usage boomed last year. i feel i'm hearing about chatgpt everywhere i go. talk to us about those developments. >> yeah, you heard about it, because it's really extraordinary. it's a new technology that has been adopted at a faster rate than any technology we know about the adoption rate for. we don't have data going back to the invention of the typewriter, whatever. when you look at recent innovations, usage of computers, a.i. is outstripping them. 40% of americans used a.i. or are using it now, and it's way

up from what we saw with the internet and computers. where this is going, we'll see. it is certainly an extraordinary change, and it really promises to revolutionize life in many ways for all americans in terms of more information, better ability to work more efficiently, and things like that. yes, i know people worry about jobs. there's never been a technological innovation in history that hasn't ended up creating more jobs than it cost. i'm an optimist. the stock market for tircht different reasons is also an optimist. the magnificent seven stocks drove a lot of the stock market performance in the past year i referred to. nvidia, the chip designer up 179%. other big beneficiaries, facebook, meta, google, so for. we'll get to tesla. s&p as a whole up 27% last year. these stocks as a group were up 70%. tesla is interesting for a different reason. you can see it really didn't do

much at all during the year, and then it shot up after the election. elon musk has been a huge beneficiary of trump's win. the value of all of his holdings have gone up by a couple hundred billion dollars. tesla being one of the most recent to shoot up like that. >> all right. "morning joe" economic analyst steve rattner, thank you. we'll be looking for the fullness of the charts in "the new york times." ahead, we'll go live to bourbon street, where nbc's jay gray is standing by with the very latest in the terror attack that killed 15 people, and the new details we're learning about the suspect. plus, former homeland security secretary jeh johnson is with us to expect the possible security lapses. also ahead, we'll speak with new orleans city council member at large, jp morrell, on how his city is coping, and what he is trying to do to help the injured victims. "morning joe" will be right back.

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symone sanders. ♪♪ there's a shot there of new york city here just after 7:00 eastern time. welcome back to "morning joe." it's thursday, january 2nd. i'm jonathan lemire. we'll begin with the latest from new orleans. the fbi is now investigating the deadly new year's day attack on bourbon street as an act of terrorism. at least 15 people were killed after a driver rammed a pickup truck into a crowd on that packed street early yesterday morning. nbc news senior national correspondent tom llamas brings us the latest. >> reporter: in the opening hours of the new year, terror on

the strees of new orleans. cell phone capturing bodies on bourbon street. the wounded being treated while still laying in the round. >> we're dealing with ems right now. right now we're working in a triage area. >> reporter: video showing police racing toward the carnage where a driver plowed his pickup truck into a crowd in the historic french quarter. you can see the truck getting around a police cruiser, blocking the entrance to bourbon and racing through the street packed with revelers. >> he was hell-bent on create eg the carnage and damage that he did. >> reporter: police say the suspect started his attack at 3:15 a.m. local, first using his car s a weapon, mowing people down before crashing into a crane. he died in a shootout with police. this video capturing the sounds of gunshot. two police officers were shot

and injured. >> the guy in the pickup truck just punched the gas and mowed over the barricade and hit a pedicab passengers, and there were just bodies and the screams. i mean, you can't unthink about, you know, unhear that. it was chaos. and very, very scary. >> reporter: the fbi, the lead agency on the investigation, identified the suspect at 42-year-old shamsud didn't jabbar, a u.s. citizen from texas and still hunting potential co-conspirators. >> we don't believe jabbar acted. isis flag was located on the trailer hitch of the vehicle and the fbi is working to find the suspect's potential affiliations with terrorist organizations.

>> reporter: the fbi says also found in the truck, weapons and improvised explosive devices and two ieds in the french quarter were rendered safe. >> he fired upon local law enforcement. law enforcement returned fire and the suspect was pronounced deceased at the scene. >> reporter: jabbar had two misdemeanor charges in his past. one for theft and the other for driving with an invalid license. in a youtube video posted four years ago, jabbar identifies himself as a realtor and texas property manager. >> i'm born and raised in beaumont, texas, and now live in houston. >> reporter: in the video he says he spent ten years in the military and i.t. specialist. the u.s. army confirms he served in the regular army and then army reserves. deployed from afghanistan from february of 2009 to january 2010 and ended his service at rank of staff sergeant. president biden saying the fbi has been briefing him on the killer. >> mere hours before the attack, he posted videos on social media

indicating that he was inspired by isis. especially in the desire to kill, desire to kill. >> reporter: in new orleans, bourbon street now an active crime scene with authorities searching for answers. >> we need the public's help. we're asking if anybody had any interactions with jabbar in the last 72 hours, thaw contact us. the fbi is asking the public's help. >> that was nbc's tom llamas with that report. joining us live from new orleans is nbc news correspondent jay gray. so, jay, the sugar bowl was scheduled to be yesterday. postponed to today because of the attack. i know there have been some lawmakers who suggested locally it should be postponed even further. what's the status about the game, the security situation and just the mood in the city, so celebratory on new year's eve and now in mourning?

>> reporter: right. this is a city really tied to mardi gras, which is a huge celebration in the french quarter with the sugar bowl that every year is such a huge and festive event. there is a pal over the city, as you would imagine. let's start with the sugar bowl. that kickoff postponed until 4:00 this afternoon eastern time. as you talked about, the attorney general of the state says she thinks it should be postponed at least another day. the governor last night trying to reassure many about security saying they altered the security plan in the wake of this attack. they have much larger perimeter around the superdome at this point, more officers, both federal as well as louisiana state and local police. more bomb-sniffing dogs. he says he will be there for the game. and told people that he believes at kickoff this may be one of the safest places in the world. he's trying make sure everyone feels safe about this game. we talked to some fans in town

here. obviously, there's concern. there is a bit of mourning for those that were lost here, obviously, which has taken away a lot from what is a very big game in the scope of the college football playoff. but when it comes to what happened here, you realize how unimportant that game is at this point. let's talk about the investigation. centered not only here, still a very active investigation. canal street here along the edge of the french quarter shut down. we're standing in the middle of the roadway here. also at the suspect's home in texas, where federal agents have carried out a search warrant. at an airbnb here in new orleans, one that was a scene of a fire in the hours just before the attack and that investigators believe may have been a spot where, along with possible accomplices, the suspect in this case, 42-year-old jabbar, constructed the explosive devices found not

only inside his truck, his rental truck, but also in the french quarter. those devices rendered safe. again, that's going to be one of the key components here, trying to find out who also was involved. we also learned overnight a lot of this investigation is really centered on and focusing on electronics that jabbar owned, including a cell phone as well as a computer. so, that's where the investigation stands at this point. what officers are saying on the ground here is that this is an investigation that is really just in its beginning stages and could last quite some time. >> nbc's jay gray, thank you so much. we'll have further live reports from new orleans later in the morning. with us now, we have former secretary of homeland security in the obama administration, jeh johnson. nbc news executive editor for national security, david rohde and ken dilanian is back with us. thank you for being here with

us. mr. secretary, you obviously have a lot of experience with meaning to safeguard major events. new year's eve on bourbon street is one of them and that's before we talk about the football games coming up. what do you see yesterday about going wrong and where do you see the investigation going from here? >> well, if i were still in office, first and foremost, i would be concerned about the -- what appears to be the reality, that there are terrorist accomplices still at large. and one of them was willing to take his own life. that presents a real public safety security challenge in the new orleans area. i won't second-guess the situation with the ballards, they were in the process of being upgraded for the security bowl. that has to happen at some point. i will say right here in new york city, around times square, you see barricades on the sidewalks. you see heavy comment barricades

on the sidewalks to prevent a vehicle from plowing through a sidewalk to get into a street area like this. one of the things that those of us who have been involved in security, 24 hours after an attack like this, the level of disinformation can be high. it does seem as though there's an increasing body of evidence there were accomplices in this attack. not prepared to say that las vegas is somehow linked to new orleans. it could be a coincidence, but it does feel as though there's a new security threat environment out there. not necessarily because isis is involved, but because of the prospect of copycat attacks. it does seem as though there's a new security environment out there. we've got the inauguration approaching. i heard this morning there's a rally that president-elect trump is planning to have before the

inauguration. of course, we have the super bowl a few weeks after that, which to me suggests that the president-elect should consider asking the current fbi director, chris wray to stay on through the inauguration, stay on through the super bowl, which itself is a huge security environment. this is not the time to see our fbi director walking out the door in 18 days. >> following up on that briefly, trump and christopher wray, trump has been critical of wray in months before. saying he would fire wray if he stayed on. his replacement, kash patel, his confirmation hearing not yet scheduled, but suggestions it would fall into february because pam bondi would have to have hers first. so a gap in security and are you questioning kash patel's ability to lead that agency? >> put that aside. what i've heard is director wray is planning on leaving january

20. that means there would be an acting director in place. this sunt isn't the time to have a director who's been there for seven years walking out the door, orientation briefings and so forth. i think through this period over the next several weeks there needs to be some continuity in the leadership of the nation's premiere law enforcement agency. >> david, let's talk about the latest in the investigation and as the -- mr. secretary noted, the idea there might be links to what happened in las vegas. what do we know about the latest of both men here? >> so, i want -- ken dilanian is going to talk in a minute but this is coming by ken dilanian, amy winter and three amazing reporters i work with in law enforcement and national security team. but investigators are looking at whether the person who carried out the las vegas attack jabbar is somehow related and may have served in the military and met the person who carried out the attack on the trump hotel in las vegas.

that's not confirmed. that's something they're looking at. but at this point that's a possibility. and that might explain how both of these things happened yesterday. there's a lot of confusion. there was some questions about the fbi in terms of there wasn't as much of an aggressive -- the fbi did not take over the investigation in las vegas immediately the way they did in new orleans. and there's some questions about why that didn't happen faster. but at this point, that is the main lead we're hearing about. >> let's bring in ken on this point here about las vegas. what can you tell us about the status of that investigation? i know when the explosion first happened, there was a lot of speculation that it was -- because elon musk, obviously, it's a tesla vehicle, he's a close adviser to donald trump, it happens outside the trump hotel. we see the explosion here. there was some initial suggestion it may have been a mechanical failure. that's been ruled out. what do we know as to what transpired here and anything else you can add to the picture

we have of the possible suspect. >> well, you heard the las vegas sheriff say last night there are a number of coincidences in these -- connecting these two situations that he would like to understand better. including the fact that both vehicles were rented through this turo service, like an airbnb service to rent private vehicles. and the fbi is investigating, obviously, whether there are any connections between the men. i want to going to the new orleans situation and the question about accomplices. it's not as cut and dried as some people are suggesting. you heard that fbi special agent say earlier yesterday, we don't believe he acted alone. later in the day nbc news learned from senior law enforcement officials that that was based in large part on a misreading of surveillance video. where they saw people who were not the suspect, they thought may have been planting those two ieds found in the city of new orleans.

they've now ruled those people out. they were not involved. they were bystanders. i was told that was the main reason there was a suggestion of accomplices. and there isn't a manhunt. they don't have named suspects. they don't have people they're looking for that they believe were working with jabbar on the new orleans situation. now, the louisiana attorney general told lester holt last night that she believes there were other people helping him make the bombs at an airbnb that was rented. we don't have that information from the fbi. that's very much in question. we're pursuing that today. but we do have people telling us that there are different theories. one of the theories is that he acted alone. it's not clear there are people at large in new orleans that are posing a risk to the public. that's very much an open question at this hour. >> ken, if you get any more answers to those open questions, please come back to us with those answers. we appreciate it. mr. secretary, let's talk about isis. when you were in office, certainly they posed a great

threat. they were at their peak. their abilities have been degraded since, but as we talked last hour, the sense they're back on the upswing. there doesn't have to be necessarily a far off shadowy figure giving the inspiration. just the ideology might be enough. >> right. i put terrorist attacks in three categories -- foreign terrorist directed attacks like 9/11, like the so-called underwear bomber, the so-called shoe bomber, terrorist-inspired attacks where an actor already here in the united states or someplace else is inspired by a call from isis online, or simply a lone wolf actor inspired by the ideology, who wants to carry the flag. not necessarily directed by or inspired by a call on the internet. all three present real security challenges. what happened in new orleans was the most significant terrorist

attack we've seen here in the united states. in quite some time. and so got to be on guard about all three. the internet makes this a much more complicated security environment. >> david, with that as the back drop, talk to us about what you expect law enforcement to be doing these next days in terms of just further exploring the connection -- possible connection between what happened in new orleans and denver. one would have to assume they have to be on high alert. could there be others? maybe it's not just two incidents. there could be more coming. this culture we're in right now where it does seem like violence would be possible and very high profile events on the horizon. >> and jeh was correct to talk about online propaganda. the biggest difference we've seen in isis is they're putting out their own propaganda now in many different languagings. there was an attack in oklahoma

city that was not carried out by a person. there was an informant that was with the person along the way and they were arrested. this was something they were going to do on election day. in europe there have been successful attacks. there are not direct links. it's not that there's some isis operative in the corner of syria telling them where to go. jabbar t could have just been him watching these online and carrying out the attack on his own. there's enough videos about how to carry out the attack. we just had the market in germany where a car drove through the crowd. it was the same method there. investigators will be look for someone who might radicalize. the question, are there other people who help them with ieds or help them alone in new orleans, but they'll be on alert everywhere in the days and months and weeks ahead. this has not happened in the united states for years. and it shows the power, again, of this online propaganda. my suspicion is that's what happened here. >> adding to this sense of

unease, looking at crime here in the united states, data shows it's down. most places it's down. there have been very high-profile incidents that speak about new york city that unnerve people. in the last few weeks we've had a woman set on fire on a subway train, we talked about a man who was randomly pushed in front of a train. he's going to live. terrifying video and we woke up this morning that ten people were wounded in a nightclub shooting in queens here in new york city. just talk to us -- give us a fact check about where crime data actually is, but this fear that this sort of stuff keeps happening. >> it does happen. the public is afraid and it's understandable why. you have these high-profile incidents, perhaps online, that drives the fear. murder is down, that's a big, positive step. other crimes continue, property crimes. it's a priority of the trump administration to push hard in terms of law enforcement and

encountering crime and stopping any kind of attack like this. >> jeh and david, both stay with us. we're going to a quick break. up next we'll speak with new orleans city councilmember at large jp morrell with the latest on the attack and what he's doing to try to help the victims. at betmgm, everyone gets a welcome offer. so whether you're courtside trying to hit the over... or up here trying to hit the under. whew! or, hitting that win with your crew. ohhh! yes, see defense! or way up here with a same game parlay. yaw! betmgm's got your back. get your welcome offer. and play with the sportsbook born in vegas. all these seats. really? get up to a $1500 new customer offer in bonus bets when you sign up now. betmgm. download and bet today.

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the community? >> no, i believe the community is safe and there's a huge law enforcement presence here in new orleans. the governor is deploying at least 100 national guard to secure the area in the french quarter and relieve other law enforcement so they can do their jobs and make sure that we have a significant law enforcement presence here. we also have state police on the ground. so, i believe that everyone is safe. and the governor plans to attend the football game. >> that was louisiana's attorney general speaking to nbc's lester holt last flight, saying she does believe the community is safe following an attack during the early morning hours of new year's day, which left 15 people dead. joining us now, new orleans city councilmember at large, jp morel. mr. councilmember, thank you so much for joining us. of course, our condolences to you and the community. give us an update as to how the city is doing. one of the truly iconic american

cities, one that was moved from celebration to tragedy and mourning in the blink of an eye. >> i mean, the city is -- we're struggling. obviously, we're a city renowned for food and festivals and fun and bringing people together in inclusive ways, and this shattered that are for all practical purposes. we are truly heartbroken. we spent the last -- i know from the council's perspective, the last 24 hours trying to unify families. we've been working with the public to promote blood drives because we had -- typically this time of year there's a shortage of blood anyway. obviously, with this horrific attack, and not just with the victims who died, the victims who were struggling, but those just normally in the community, there's been an issue. and just -- we're just trying to make sense of all of it while moving forward. >> so, talk to us a little more about the efforts to those -- the families of those that were killed and so many injured. many gravely and still in the

hospital. what more is the government able to do there to provide assistance? >> well, one of the first things we did is that after the boston marathon terrorist attack, there was a fund set up. we've done that similarly in new orleans to provide resources to families. not just those family who were here, but there's a lot of people that have family who aren't here. we're trying to get those family here. we're trying to reunify families with their loved ones who were injured. as well as working with local law enforcement to identify people so that becan notify next of kin. i think what you've seen over the last 24 hours, there hasn't been a blanket release of who the victims were. a lot of that is because we're trying to make sure that families find be out from us before they see it on television. we've been doing that. additionally, it's just really trying to explain to everyone there's going to have to be a lot of patience in this process. obviously, we are dealing with the sugar bowl that's going to go on this afternoon.

but at the same time, there's a lot of unanswered questions, locally and nationally about things that happened up to and during this event that are going to have to be answered over the coming days. the focus right now is on taking care of the victims, making the city safe, and moving forward in this incidence. >> councilmember, secretary jeh johnson is with us and has the next question. >> good morning, sir. how comfortable are you with the sugar bowl going forward this evening? i can understand why people might want to get the game over with, have all those out of towners leave. how comfortable are you with the game proceeding tonight? >> based on the information and briefings we had, aim very comfortable it's going to be a very secure and safe environment. what we've been stressing to people locally as well as our visitors is, you need to be prepared and patient with how secure this perimeter is going to be.

basically, you have tsa. it's going to be a much lengthier process. we have tremendous law enforcement presence. i feel very comfortable. if we didn't feel comfortable, we wouldn't have allowed the game to go forward. i think we're all in a good place. the challenge really is, how do we find normalcy after this? the city of new orleans, you have a super bowl in a month and after that we have mardi gras. mardi gras is a giant, open air party that covers a third of the city. we're already making accommodations of how this is going to change how we do mardi gras this year and possibly going forward. we're looking at all these different pieces kind of simultaneously. as far as the sugar bowl this afternoon, i'm very comfortable. law enforcement from the state, local and federal level all very comfortable. and the shear amount of resources available, whatever we

had beforehand. >> thank you for joining us. two quick follow-up regarding what law enforcement officials may have briefed you on. first, do you have any guidance you can give us about whether there are accomplices or individuals being -- law enforcement is looking for in new orleans who may have played a role in the attack? and the second question is, you as city councilmember, any more details about why that street wasn't blocked off more effectively? i know they were working on the ballard system that didn't work correctly. >> i have no new information as of last night regarding additional people. we were given the same information you previously covered, which was there was an idea there were additional people involved because of the location of those two ieds that were outside of the city, the vehicle itself. there was some local reporting that there was remote detonation

devices tied to those, which were then tied back to the truck, which kind of leads credence that maybe they were preplaced by the individual. none of that has been confirmed yet. we were told they were still looking for leads from other people. we try to caution people that like new york, we have a tremendous amount of cameras in the french quarter and that we were already hearing that all the rumors around there being other people or tied to people being near those two other devices, but they couldn't really find out if the people who placed them are people who saw them. observed at them or poked at them or whatever. they're still working on that piece. there's a lot of unanswered questions regarding the ballard system. obviously, the original system was installed by former mayor mitch landrieu after the attacks in france where the truck drove into the crowd. they were literally created for this sort of instance. the council was not really made

aware these balance lards would be backed up before the sugar bowl, which is a major event. the police car was on the corner and was similar to a ballard had it been present, but that being said, there's a lot of questions of, a, why weren't they repaired in time for the sugar bowl and, b, what additional infrastructure could have been or should have been behind that police car on the street? those ballards are placed every block, they come up throughout bourbon street. despite the fact the police car was there on the corner, there was no hardened infrastructure necessarily beyond that police car. those are challenges. i think the police did not

believe someone would take the sidewalk. that being said, new york accounts for that. and that's something the city should have accounted for. there's a lot of unanswered questions. we're trying not to focus on the after-report at this moment because we're trying to get to the game of the day and address security issues and infrastructure before the super bowl, but those questions will go through a process and they will be answered in a very transparent and public way. >> we'll be following those threats in the days ahead. new orleans city councilmember at large, jp morel, thank you. our thoughts are with your city. we appreciate you joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> david rohde, thank you. we'll bring you the latest from capitol hill ahead of tomorrow's pivotal vote that could see mike johnson re-elected as speaker. this comes as republican leadership unveils a new effort that would make it harder to oust a sitting speaker. we'll get to all of that straight ahead here on "morning joe." at straight ahead here on "morning joe.

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welcome back to "morning joe." ho politics. house lawmakers will vote to re-elect mike johnson as speaker now and president-elect trump is now calling republicans to fall in line and support him. speaking to reporters from his mar-a-lago estate on new year's eve, trump said he would be

willing, if necessary, to make calls to lawmakers to drop support for johnson in order to help him keep the gavel. >> i think we're going to have a great time in washington and i think we're going to get great support. people like him. everybody likes him. others are very good, too, but they have 30 or 40 people that don't like him. that's pretty tour. we'll get a successful vote. he's a good plan. he's a wonderful person and that's what you need. >> trump was content to let johnson twist in the wind for a couple of weeks but now seems on board. because of the gop slim majority, johnson can only afford to lose one vote tomorrow. ahead of that vote, house republican leadership has unfail veiled a new set of rules for congress. the new rules package will make it harder to oust a speaker but does not remove the threat entirely. instead of being just one member to trigger an outster vote, it will be nine members.

gop leaders have published an op-ed on foxnews.com calling on lawmakers to quickly deliver president-elect trump's america first agenda. president-elect trump was going to hold a rally on january 19th, the day before his inauguration. according to an announcement from his inaugural committee, the event is being dubbed a victory rally and will take place at the capital one arena. trump has not held a rally in washington since the speech he delivered on the ellipse on january 6, 2021 before a crowd of supporters stormed the capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election results. meanwhile at a ceremony later today at the white house, president biden will award the second highest civilian medal to leaders of the house january 6th select committee. former congresswoman liz cheney and democratic congressman bennie thompson will both

receive the presidential citizen medal. the award will also be given to 18 other recipients, including some who helped set new standards for treating injuries in war. mr. secretary, let's go back to the idea of this rally that trump is holding in washington. now, after he won in 2016, he actually had a series of victory rallies across the country. he has want done that this time around. now he's doing it on the eve of the inauguration. in light of our conversation all morning long, let's talk about security for these events. january 6th, this coming monday, likely security will be necessary because it always is, but certainly not the threat posed there like it was four years ago. we could set that aside. that combination of january 19th and particularly the inauguration, which could draw hundreds of thousands of people to washington, you were tasked with your old post of securing the event -- that very event. how does one do that, in light of the new terror threats? >> the inauguration is

designated a national special security event, nsse. january 6th this year has also been designated an nsse to put in the middle of those two events a very guy beganic presidential level rally presents a significant security challenge in terms of resources, man power, so it's not as simple as just throwing a big party on short notice. you've got to put a lot of security in place when you have the person about to become president in this current threat environment, which we just talked about a few minutes ago. so i hope the president-elect and his team carefully considered that before they decided to have this large rally. i would have thought that some of the very same people that are coming to the inauguration would go to the rally. so kind of, what's the point? >> i'm not sure i see the point

either. a final thought, an event so big, the inauguration itself, there will be federal law enforcement, help from the states. how does one, you know, how does one secure an event that size? the man who's about to be taking the oath of office survive a pair of assassination threats. >> i'm confident the inauguration will be very, very secure. they've been building the barricades and the security on the capitol grounds since before the election. i've seen it myself eight years ago when i was responsible for all of this. there will be so much security and screening, a chipmunk won't be able to get on the capitol grounds. again, to add an additional major, major security event to that weekend just before makes the situation more complex and more challenging, very clearly.

>> and the security around the white house has been hardened as well. former homeland security secretary, jeh johnson. we appreciate it. up next here, the cdc says there has been an unusually high number of norovirus outbreaks sickening people across the country. dr. vin gupta is standing by for what you need to know to stay safe. to stay safe —i have to find a babysitter. —i have a lot of questions. —when can they start? —today? now? —how about saturday? —are they background-checked? my wife and i haven't been out in a year. we need a date night!

no offense. find all the care you need at care.com

welcome back. at least three people are dead

and dozens injured after a new year's eve fireworks explosion in honolulu. officials say the explosion happened in a residential neighborhood after someone lit a combination of cartridges that fell to the side and rocketed into even more fireworks. police say two women were pronounced dead at the scene and a third died later at the hospital. their identities have not yet been released. 26 people were taken to nearby hospitals there in hawaii. many with significant burn injuries. some other news, cases of norovirus appear to be on the rise across the country, according to some new data from the centers of disease control and prevention. more than 90 outbreaks of the virus were reported during the week of december 5th. the most recent week with available data. previous years' data showed a maximum of 65 outbreaks reported. joining us now, nbc news medical contributor dr. vin gupta.

so good to see you. why do you believe we're seeing a spike in the norovirus, anecdotally seems like a lot of people are sick right now, and deeply unpleasant, why is it spiking and how can we mitigate it? >> it's the winter vomiting bug, so i know nobody wants to talk about that, but here we are. tends to spike between november and april. this year seems like an outlying year with more cases. we don't know why. we're all indoors, a lot of us traveling. maybe the spike is an anomaly but there's a reason we're seeing it right now. here's how to distinguish it. the question i get all the time is, how do you know it's norovirus versus, say, something else that might cause gi upset? it's about hallmark -- the rapidity of symptom onset, how quickly it happens after someone ate oysters, which has been implicated in norovirus

outbreaks. it happens quickly, maybe in a matter of minutes, and that's something to keep in mind. that's you or a loved one you know, it should stay home and try to stay isolated from other people not handling food. the really critical for those hopping on a flight back or in a train back home from holiday vacation, hand hygiene is critical. this is where sanitizer is good but not great. you want to wash your hands. if you're going to bring wipes on board, which i highly recommend if you're in the airplane, make sure they have bleach in them. bleach kills norovirus. the regular ones, just antiseptic wipes do not. that's the key thing to keep an eye out for. >> good notes there. let's turn to the bird flu. federal health officials are looking at possible mutations that, in theory, might help the virus infect people more easily. i know this has been a lot of real concern online about this in recent days. what do we know about it. how concerned should we be? >> i think it should concern us.

the fact that this is a virus -- a form of flu for viewers out there who may not be tracking this, a form of flu commonly found in birds up until about late 2022, hence, bird flu. now we've seen over the last 18 months this jump from birds to cattle. now, you know, to other species like big cats here in washington state, on the west coast where i'm at, 20 big cats died. i think that was alarming for all of us, deeply unsettling that this virus is quickly jumping from species to species. now we've seen even in humans no evidence of human-to-human transmission,on than. no public concern quite yet. there's a reason why the california governor, gavin newsom, has declared a state of emergency. we are seeing of some humans getting infected, some of them, even young ones in british columbia are ending up in icu

care. governor newsom is doing, declaring a state of emergency, doing more surveillance, more testing of cattle farms. we want to know how this virus is changing. we're seeing some evidence it is mutating in ways that will allow for easier infection in lungs. that's what's concerning us here. flu changes. flu finds a way. that's what seems to be happening here. it is constantly changing. >> this won't be our last conversation about this virus, i suspect. let's turn to a couple other topics now, dr. gupta. there's a recently published study looking at how drinking alcohol, even in moderate amounts, impacts our health. there's a wave of new science about this in recent years. tell us about this. >> there's a lot of controversy here. the question is any alcohol an official -- this is -- no one is going to love the answer here, but there's going to be some pros and some cons. that's probably where we're going to land. this recent study from the

national academy of medicine and sciences engineering found, it looks like there are some health benefits to moderate drinking. two glasses of wine, say, for men, one for women every single day, if you were to stick to moderate drinking guidelines seems like it might improve hdl, good cholesterol, lower bad cholesterol, perhaps improve heart health, may cause us to live longer. i caution saying this because lots of studies have shown the opposite and it seems like without a doubt, regardless of heart health benefits, seems there's a cancer risk. does seem like alcohol in any amount is a karn sin again. i think that's where we're going to land, especially with things like colorectal cancer, and another thing can be true, it can benefit the heart and improve heart health. i think a little good news coupled with cautionary news. i think that's where we're ultimately going to land here. >> seems like less and less drinking in recent years,

particularly post-pandemic. of course, dry january, a popular phenomenon. dr. gupta, let's talk about our top story, of course, is the terrible incident in new orleans. talk to us, if you will, about the first responders or -- who were there helping those wounded or killed, civilians who witnessed it, talk to us about how the human response to mass casualty events and how it impacts them, you know, emotionally and psychologically. what help might they need. >> absolutely. obviously, horrific event. and the first responders are always heroes, whether it's this event, prior events, i'm sure we'll be dealing with something in the future. number one, the immediate response here was incredible. i think we should really give voice to that. that immediate triaging is who needs actual critical care

services, tremendous health care systems in nola, like the university medical center, mcnc health, i have a lot of colleagues down there doing incredible work. this is not their first mass casualty event, and they color code patients that immediately need to be triaged. that's what was happening. there's a lot in critical care, surgical needs, so acute response is the focus. to your point, psychological trauma sets in after any mass casualty event. for first responders, and to your point, those that witnessed it. ptsd is a real thing. counsel support, the recovery phase after any mass casualty event is critical, providing psychological support and those therapeutic needs. i'll say right now, we're still very much in the acute phase. can we still save many of those in critical care still in the hospital. >> nbc news medical contributor

dr. vin gupta. thank you. happy new year. we'll speak to you soon. still ahead, we'll get the very latest from new orleans on the heels of that deadly truck attack. and what investigators are learning about the suspect and the victims. "morning joe" will be back in just a moment. just a moment.

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spin the guy in the pickup truck just punched the gas and went over the barricade and hit the passengers and they were just bodies, and screams, i mean, you cannot undear that. it was chaos and very scary. >> this morning, a deadly new

year's truck attack in new orleans is being investigated as an act of terrorism after a driver mode into a crowd on bourbon street, killing 15 and injuring dozens more, we will get a report from new orleans in just a moment. plus, authorities are also investigating a tesla cybertruck explosion outside the trump international hotel in las vegas, what we are learning about that incident and any possible connection to what happened in new orleans. also ahead, tomorrow is the start of a new congress and the first order of business is electing the next speaker of the house, will mike johnson have enough support to keep the gavel? good morning, welcome to morning joe, it is thursday, january 2nd, we do hope you had a happy new year, and it began with sadness for so many, we begin this morning with the deadly new year's attack in new orleans, we want to warn you, some of the footage is disturbing.

surveillance video shows the moment that a man drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people, celebrating the new year on bourbon street early yesterday morning, he drove onto a sidewalk, bypassing a police vehicle, at least 15 people were killed in the attack and 30 others injured. the driver then opened fire at police and died in the shootout. two officers were also shot but they are in stable condition. according to the fbi, the suspect was a 42-year-old u.s. citizen from texas, he had an isis flag on the back of his truck used in the attack. officials are looking into whether a terrorist group was indeed involved, the vehicle was rented from the car sharing marketplace, authorities found weapons and potential explosive devices in that truck and at least two ied's may have been

planted near the scene of the attack. three u.s. defense officials tell nbc news that the suspect served in the army, he was deployed to afghanistan in 2009 and was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant in the year 2020. yesterday's attack was the deadliest act of the mass murder in the u.s. in more than a year, only a few of those killed have been identified so far. joining us from new orleans is nbc news correspondent, jesse kirsch, what is the latest from that city? >> reporter: good morning to you, i'm standing outside of the superdome, it is set to host the sugar bowl this afternoon, that game was initially supposed to be played yesterday, last night, but it has been postponed because of the events in the early hours of new year's day, this is also said to be the host site for

the super bowl in less than two months so a lot of attention on this security situation right now. i can tell you that people come into this game are to expect heightened security measures, among them, people parking at the superdome are subject to security screenings. what we have seen, when we got here yesterday morning the barricades along the curb were stopped back there but now they extend to the end of the curb and there's always going to be a lot of people watching this football game but now they are under the microscope for a very different reason. hours after that bloody attack on bourbon street, growing questions about the physical barriers used to secure the area, devices known as bollards are often used to help control vehicles. but, they weren't there, the mayor explains the system was in the midst of repairs. >> they were not up because

they were near completion with the expectation of being completed of course by the super bowl. >> reporter: the game is set to be played in new orleans next month, other barriers like police vehicles and officers were in place to secure bourbon street on new year's eve but video shows how the attacker drove around a patrol car. >> we did indeed have a plan but the terrorist defeated it. >> anything that is in the current midst of being repaired had a backup last night. >> vehicles and officers were there, where all of those bollards had been , and like i said, in this particular case, the terrorist just went all the way around up onto the sidewalk. >> was somebody getting on the sidewalk considered impossible or was this something you did not expect to account for? >> of course it wasn't something we expected to account for.

>> the latest attack following the german christmas attack last month, the berlin truck attack in 2016, and another attack that same year. >> just the standard ones like you see right there, there were police at the entrance, but the metal barricades were not up. >> a city website said this project is set to be completed next month but a nationally televised college football parking is supposed to be played here. the city is ready. >> do you think new orleans can host a football game here safely? >> i'm going to tell you right now, so many races ours are -- resources are being deployed, that we will have a safe game.

>> reporter: and i want to go back to that press conference exchange i had with police for a moment, again, they say they did not think they needed to account for a vehicle going up on the sidewalk and plowing through bourbon street, but clearly those gaps were wide enough for a vehicle to make its way up onto the curb and go down that very busy street. on new year's morning. and all of this is happening again with the super bowl set to be held here in less than two months, a lot of questions unanswered at this point about the security preparations and the thought going into that ahead of that major global event. back to you. >> yes, it is hard to imagine, they will be questions as to why those bollards were not repaired ahead of new year's eve and these two football games coming to new orleans, thank you. now joining us, nbc news national security analyst, clint watts, justice and

intelligence correspondent, ken dilanian, and symone sanders- townsend . what is the latest we know about this investigation and the suspect, a lot of real concern about possible connections to isis, what is the latest we know? >> good morning, jonathan, president biden said this suspect was inspired by isis, obviously they discover that he had been flying an isis flag on the back of his pickup truck but the more information that emerges about this man, the more perplexing it is because he does not fit the typical profile of a radicalized terrorist, he was 42 years old, u.s. army veteran, held a six- figure job at a big accounting firm, father of three children, twice married and divorced, it appears to have some kind of mental break, his brother called it radicalization, the reports that he made in the facebook videos vowing to kill,

i think president biden referred to that, shortly before he carried out the attack. one of the big questions remaining is, did he have accomplices? there has been a lot of confusion on this because the fbi special agent said at one of the briefings yesterday, we don't believe he acted alone and other officials said they were on the lookout for other bad guys. but after that briefing, at nbc news we talked to senior law enforcement officials who said that may have been based on a misunderstanding of some surveillance video. they were looking a video that they thought showed other people planting two of the ied's they found in new orleans but it turns out those people were just bystanders. so they don't have additional suspects is our understanding, they are not ruling out that he

had help but right now there are different theories and some law enforcement officials leave he acted alone, again, they are not saying that definitively right now but the idea that there are definitely dangerous people in new orleans that led them to postpone the game last night, that appears not to be the case, jonathan. >> and we mentioned some remarks from president biden last night. >> i know i can speak for all americans when i say our hearts go out to the people of new orleans after the despicable attack that occurred in the early morning hours. to all the families of those who were killed, to all those who were injured, to all the people of new orleans who are grieving today, i want you to know, i grieve with you, our nation grieves with you, we are going to stand with you as you heal in the weeks to come. also reported to me that hours before the attack, he posted

videos on social media indicating that he was inspired by isis, especially the desire to kill. >> that was at camp david, so let's use the phrase he used, inspired by isis, obviously isis have been dealt major blows in recent years, after attacks in the u.s. and europe but there has been a sense that they have been gathering in strength, but inspired by isis, that could mean any number of things, not necessarily a direct connection between the overseas terror group and an u.s. citizen here. talk to us about how dangerous it is that a vehicle can turn into a weapon. >> rewinding 10 years, talking

about a spectrum of attacks, we would take they are directed by terrorist groups through facilitation online or totally inspired, somebody takes the all the ideology, they come up with the plot and the device. when we were looking at this yesterday, that initial report, you start to think maybe this is a larger network of operatives that could be really pushed by an isis affiliate, what we have seen in the last two years is a couple things, one in syria today, we have the original location where isis was formed, complete instability and the power vacuum, in afghanistan, they have become the regional player , could maybe facilitate this but across the board, just looking at the evidence, we are not seeing any strong language to isis, you are seeing a lot of things that might point to psychological factors, financial difficulties, professional failures, adding that to a very late discussion of isis, and looking at this is just not showing networks at this point, more inspired and

even that inspiration is a little bit thin at the moment. normally in these cases, we see a longer history of someone talking about isis and a lot more witnesses, maybe that will come out today as the investigation proceeds. >> let's talk about those next steps, where are investigators looking today as they go through the suspects past and also what have you heard in terms of measures being taken to harden security at new orleans for the football game later today and arguably the biggest event on the americans calendar, the super bowl in just over a month. >> in terms of the security measures, the super bowl has a special designation, normally it is a special security event, it has something called seer one which calls for the fbi and homeland security to come in with a maximalist security profile, so we can all be sure

that the security posture for the super bowl will be dramatic and in terms of what they are doing for the sugar bowl tonight, no doubt they are responding and they are going to bring trucks and other things to make up for the lack of those bollards which ironically they were trying to replace in time for the super bowl but they weren't ready for this event obviously. so, cities tend to response only after something like this happens, they bring in all sorts of security. in terms of where the investigation goes now, we saw that the fbi acknowledged they served the search warrant and they were at the suspects residence in houston for a long time yesterday and may still be there, they are scouring his residence, his digital profile, talking to relatives. so there are people that know about this suspect that they are talking to and the main goal right now is to try to figure out whether he was in

touch with anybody, from isis or whether they had any accomplices at all and what actually happened, what was the motive, because they want to figure out how they can prevent this kind of thing. and of course, they have not ruled out a connection with a bizarre incident in las vegas with the cybertruck. there is no evidence of a connection but the investigators are saying they haven't ruled it out. >> we are going to dive into that story in just a moment, but we are also learning more about the victims who were tragically killed in the new orleans attack, a princeton graduate, father of two and an aspiring nurse, a young mother. their lives cut far too short as they celebrated the promise of a new year. the majority of those killed were local residents. here is martin bech, he

graduated from princeton university, he was living in new york city and working on wall street, he played football at princeton and trained with his younger brother jack. martin was on bourbon street with ryan who was injured in the attack, martin's mother said his death now leaves a huge void in their lives. reggie hunter was just 37 years old, from baton rouge, the father of two boys, ages 11 and 1, and he worked as a manager in a warehouse, he is described by his cousin as an awesome person with a big heart. this is 18-year-old, ni'kyra cheyenne dedeaux from mississippi, later this month, she was set to start college and planned on studying nursing, her mother is asking

for our prayers at this time. matthew tenedorio was only 25 years old, he was born in new york but lived in mississippi, he had dinner with his mother tuesday night before celebrating new year's with his friends, the next time she saw him was at the morgue, his mother said he had dreams of someday working at the superdome in new orleans, this is nicole perez, she was only 27 years old, she managed a deli near new orleans, nicole leads behind a five-year-old son, her employer remembered her as a really good mom. and lastly, hubert got throw was 21 years old, he is -- they are asking for prayers at this

time. symone, there is never a good answer, these are people, americans just like you or myself celebrating new year, trying to bring in the promise of 2025, fresh starts, new beginnings, celebrating with loved ones and for no good reason, their lives are cut short. >> that is so hard to read, i read it earlier today and i cried as i was reading it and i think it is very important that we always remember that there are people at the center of every single story we are telling, the center of every single news story, the center of every single controversy, these terrible, senseless acts of violence, they affect real people and in this particular day and age in our politics, it is very easy to get caught up in the back and forth, the

remarks that president-elect trump made on his social media site where he incorrectly identified the shooter as an immigrant, it is really easy to get mired in the politics but, always, we must take a step back and remember that they are people, there are children that are going to grow up without their mothers and fathers, there are parents who are missing, their sons and daughters, they are friends and family members who are grieving and don't know what to do with all of these feelings, they are first responders who are questioning, could we have done a little bit more to save another life? there are people who survived the attack, who did not come home, who are grappling with why them? we need to is -- take a step back and remember they are

always people at the center of the stories. >> i could not agree more, and you are right, what president trump did yesterday is deeply irresponsible, we should never lose sight of what happened to these people, there are empty places at the dinner table. loved ones gone. we will have more on that as the morning continues, but we should also turn to las vegas, meanwhile, authorities are working to determine whether or not there is a connection between the attack in new orleans and this other incident involving a vehicle in the nevada city, just hours after the bourbon street attack, a tesla cybertruck exploded and burst into flames just outside the entrance of the truck international hotel just off the vegas strip. the fire killed one person inside the car and injured several others standing nearby. according to law enforcement, the blast is being investigated

as a possible terrorist attack. the driver of the truck drove the vehicle from colorado to las vegas early wednesday morning and after reaching a hotel, the vehicle exploded 15 seconds later, according to the las vegas sheriff, at the moment, police have not released the identity of the person who was inside his vehicle, and a post on x, elon musk wrote that tesla was investigating the matter. obviously, elon musk, a top adviser to donald trump, outside of a trump hotel, that is one possible motive, but we should be clear, authorities don't seem to know what this was about. what is the latest you have heard about possible connections to new orleans and what you think the intention of this driver was? >> two things we know, it happened on the same day, the second part is this rental app,

also used to get this vehicle, i have never heard of this app until yesterday, so those two connections, other than that, we don't know who the driver was of this vehicle, so there's some question last night as to why this is being investigated as terrorism. it is the use of violence for political, social change, so you're looking at president trump's property, and his chief supporters brand for his vehicle, when you put that together, that is a natural place for him to look. i'm curious, what the driver of this vehicle, where they are going to be from, did they have any connection to any other extremist group and in terms of the identity, what is the history of that individual? i think that is really where investigators are going to go in the next few hours and hopefully we will know more about this today. coming up, we are going to

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>> welcome back, lawmakers will vote whether to name mike johnson as speaker tomorrow and president-elect trump is calling on the republicans to support him. speaking from his mar-a-lago estate on new year's eve, trump said he will be willing to make calls to lawmakers to draw support for johnson in order to help him keep the gavel. >> i will support speaker johnson, i think we are going to get great support, he is the one that can win right now, people like him. we are going to get a successful vote, he is a good man, a wonderful person and that is what we need. >> johnson can only afford to lose one vote tomorrow, thomas

massie has already come out against johnson but some have questions whether johnson will get enough support to stay in power. joining us now, congressional reporter for the hill, talk to us about what difference that might make and what is the latest you've heard in terms of the count, whether there's simply enough votes? >> good morning and happy new year, trump's endorsement did finally, a few days ago and you are right, president-elect trump was essentially letting johnson twist in the wind after he gummed up that government funding process late last month and his endorsement is helping to shore up some support, we

have seen some republicans throw their backing behind johnson, for example, two members of the house freedom caucus have since said they will support speaker johnson but that is not unanimous throughout the house republican congress, you mentioned thomas massie was always against johnson, and we are hearing from a handful of other republicans that they still remain undecided by president- elect trump's endorsement, that is people like chip roy, scott perry, andy harris, we still see these folks keep their cards very close, so you asked what the count is, it is difficult to say because these lawmakers are saying they remain on the side, but even that is a problem for mike johnson. before that, these races used to be routine, more ceremonial processes because the conflict

was, they were really united around their nominee, that is obviously not the case with kevin mccarthy or this time around, so any of that discontent and skepticism is a problem for mike johnson and you said it correctly, he could only afford to lose one vote, he cannot afford to lose any other votes other than thomas massie, republicans and democrats are in the chamber and voting for a specific candidate, so right now, johnson is in trouble. >> johnson is the speaker because the former speaker, kevin mccarthy was ousted after changing the rules to allow for one person, one member to call for a vote in removing this speaker. now these new house rules that speaker johnson has unveiled, they changed the threshold to nine, can you talk about the dynamics within the republican conference and how they arrived at that number? >> that's right, symone , that was a sensitive event that went

on, right before republicans came around and unanimously voted johnson to be the speaker, there were negotiations between the conservative house free -- freedom caucus and the caucus, that pragmatic group, they negotiated that nine-member group for negotiating for vacating, members wanted to increase that threshold from one member because we saw what happened from kevin mccarthy in 2023, but members of the freedom caucus did not want to bring it up to much, they negotiated this nine-member threshold, the thought being if there is enough support to oust the speaker, it would rise above the 9% threshold, right now it seems like there is no indication that lowering the threshold once again is on the table. of course that was one of the linchpins that led to kevin

mccarthy's success back in early 2023 when he first tried to get the speakership. right now, i haven't heard from any hard-line conservatives that they are pushing for that threshold to be lower, of course anything can change, these are very tenuous negotiations and there's not a lot of time before that race tomorrow and if johnson fails in the first ballot, he's going to be feverishly trying to talk to his colleagues to get to a resolution but at this moment, it does not seem like lowering the threshold is on the table, or even a request. >> coming up, one of our next tests worked for the fbi for 25 years, the former assistant director for counterintelligence, frank figliiuzzi joins us for morning joe. morning joe.

>> as we mentioned, the fbi says the man accused of killing 15 people in new orleans had an islamic state flag in his truck. as new york times reminds us, the terrorist group has left a legacy of death and destruction across the world. it has continued to launch terror attacks around the world and inspire believers of its extreme ideology to carry out atrocities of their own. joining us now, associate editor for the washington post, david ignatius, we are glad to see you, let's talk about isis, the state of isis in 2025, nowhere near the height of their powers of a decade or so

ago, but still potent and i know national security experts we have been talking to say it has regained some strength, so talk to us about isis and what we know of any connections with this man. >> jonathan, isis itself, is in ruins, i walked the ruined buildings of the capital city in syria, it is obliterated, it looks like the pictures of gaza, it was destroyed by a coalition in the united states and its syrian kurdish allies over several years. but the isis idea remains potent in media, so the fear increasingly among counterterrorism officials has been about virtual recruitment, virtual guidance, people don't go to training camps, but they have available online resources

as what biden said, inspires them to these acts of violence. i know that the head of the national counterterrorism center said in november at a speech, that vehicle ramming, the very technique that we saw used by this, apparently isis inspired actor in new orleans was increasingly one of the weapons of choice of these lone wolf actors, inspired by isis. are the specific materials instructing people how to engage in vehicle ramming operations, that is the kind of thing i think we are going to see the fbi and other agencies digging into carefully. but, the difficulty of addressing this problem is the networks are largely online, the fbi and other agencies depend on cooperative people in muslim and other communities in the united states who will report unusual behavior, who

will say there is somebody in our community who is causing concern or suspicion, that often has been the way that people have been able to identify suspects. the final point, the fbi has been conducting an extraordinary number of operations, stings really to draw out people who are potential violent terrorists. there was an election day plot uncovered in oklahoma city involving a person who had served in his case, as a cia assistant in afghanistan, who was purchasing materials for a plot that he planned to conduct. it turned out he was pursuing them from the fbi plants and that is why the bar was rolled up. they had many going after that, at the time, the united states

were getting ready to conduct operations, so i think this is a new challenge to the point would be, even as the isis capital strongholds are destroyed, the idea remains powerful in social media and that is the arena in which it will have to be contested. >> coming up, is wall street poised for a new year's rally? we will get a look at business before the bell, straight ahead on morning joe. morning joe go-friends, gather! keke! chris!

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>> it's time to look at the other stories making headlines today, the man who was shoved off a new york city subway platform on tuesday has a fractured skull, four broken

ribs and other injuries, fortunately he survived and is even speaking to his family from a hospital bed. police say that joseph linsky was struck by a train after a suspect, a 23-year-old violently shoved him onto the tracks, this was caught on video, truly terrifying footage, hawkins is charged with attempted murder in the second degree, he stepped up behind the victim and simply pushed him in front of an oncoming train. the u.s. government says that unlawful border crossings along the u.s.-mexico border have dropped to one -- an all- time low, an entry of 80% decrease -- 18% decrease, president trump has made cracking down of undocumented immigration a top priority of

his administration. justin baldoni is suing the new york times, he claims that the new york times defamed him, in an article published last month about blake lively's allegations, that she had been a victim of a smear campaign, the actress said that he worked too hard and his reputation after she complained about misconduct during the film's shooting, he denies it and is suing the times for $250 million, claiming it deliberately omitted key details from the reporting. coming up, a preview of tomorrow's high-stakes vote for speaker of the house, we are tracking the very latest and she joins us from washington, all in the fourth hour of morning joe. morning joe.

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>> for more than a decade, morning joe economic analyst has published a compilation of charts for the new york times, breaking down the most significant events of the previous 12 months, in his annual year end charts, this time they are breaking down everything from the economy to immigration, steve, good to see you. let's run through the top issues for 2024. >> sure, jonathan, obviously we had an election, so it is a good time to compare the record of these two presidents, one outgoing and one incoming, and of course the previous president, let's look at the central measure of the economy's strength which is in gdp, you can see trump and biden had pretty steady, trump

of course did have covid but biden is leading with a really strong economy, even if you exclude the effects of covid, biden's performance and the gdp was quite strong over 2% growth and going into the big tailwind. similarly on jobs, biden has created a huge amount of jobs, over 7 million jobs, about 165,000 per month during his term and actually more than trump really even before covid, so biden was a jobs president. we all know inflation was a big issue in this campaign and it has been a real sore spots for the biden administration, a lot of this was covid related but of course there were some policy things that were not ideal. but inflation has come almost all the way down to the 2% target, so biden is leaving trump with an inflation rate that is pretty low and gives trump a lot of freedom of movement. and finally of course, trump

thinks the s&p is one of the best measures of success, he watches it so closely. but interestingly enough, the s&p was up by almost identical amount under biden and trump, 56% so they turned out to be great stock market presidents. >> and as we have said so often, the strong economy that donald trump inherited, now for barack obama and now again, let's turn to your second chart where you highlight how the border and climate change were major issues in the year. >> that is exactly right, the border was not biden's finest moments, frankly, you can see this right here, trump is not wrong when he was talking about border crossings being quite low when he left office, and in fact, it did shoot up, some of it was somethings that biden said and the moratorium for example on deportations, but in fact we did get up almost a

3000 per month, but what people don't entirely know, the border crisis has come back down almost where they were at trump, 100,000 at the moment, so we went up the hill and down the hill but unfortunately that was very costly to biden during the election. climate should have been a more important issue, i wish it were because the numbers are very frightening, in 2023 and 2024, these are the years of climate going back to 1850 and they are color-coded, these are the earlier times, it literally follows a consistent timeframe, then it takes a huge jump, 2024 was the warmest year in history but both 2024, so far above anything previously and this really needs to be a major issue going forward. >> steve, what about a.i. usage, it boomed last year, i feel like i'm hearing about chatgpt everywhere i go, talk

to us about those developments. >> you heard about it because it is really quite extraordinary, a new technology that has been adopted at a faster rate than any technology that we know about, we obviously don't have data going all the way back to the typewriter or whatever, but when you look at recent technological innovations like the internet and computer usage, a.i. is outgrowing them, 40% of americans have used a.i., and that is way up from what we saw with the internet and computers. where this is going we will see but it is certainly an extra in a change and it promises to revolutionize life in many ways for all americans in terms of more information, better ability to work more efficiently and things like

that. and yes, i know people worry about jobs, there has never been a technological innovation in history that hasn't ended up creating more jobs, so i'm an optimist. the stock market for different reasons, also an optimist, the magnificent seven that drove a lot of stock market performance in the past year that i referred to, chip design is up 179% and other big beneficiaries, amazon, google and so forth, and we will get to tesla and the s&p is up as a whole from last year, these are up 70%. tesla is interesting because you can see it didn't do much at all during the year, then it shot up after the election, elon musk has been a huge beneficiary of trump's win, and tesla being one of the most recent to shoot up like that. >> coming up, an update on new orleans from the holiday terror attack that left at least 15 people died, we will have the very latest on that investigation would morning joe returns. joe

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we have people who are not

people at suspects at this time. the fbi is tracking down everybody. we want to make sure people are either cleared but we do have e information that we just want to track it down and that is the fbi's investigation at this time. >> that was the superintendent of police speaking moments ago about the ongoing search for possible additional suspects in the deadly new year's truck attack in new orleans. welcome to the fourth hour of "morning joe." it is 9:00 a.m. here in the east on january 2nd. i am jonathan lemire . the top story this hour, the fbi investigating the deadly new year's truck attack in new orleans as an act of terror after a driver ran into a crowd

killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more. msnbc senior national correspondent tom llamas brings us the latest. >> reporter: new video showing the terrifying moments on bourbon street. pedestrians fleeing the white pickup truck after the driver jumped a curb, passed a police car, and barreled down the street all captured on surveillance video. horrified witnesses recalling the scene three blocks from the french quarter. >> there were bodies and screams. i mean, you cannot on here that. it was chaos. >> reporter: police say 15 killed, more than 30 others injured. authorities looking at this as an act of terrorism. the driver, 42-year-old shamsud- din jabbar, a u.s. citizen from

texas and an army veteran who served in afghanistan. in a youtube video posted years ago, jabbar described himself as a realtor. >> i was born and raised in beaumont, texas. now i am in houston. >> reporter: an asus flag attached to the back of the truck. president biden addressing the nation -- >> hours before the attack he posted videos on social media indicating inspiration by isis and the desire to kill. >> reporter: cnn reporting according to officials briefed on the investigation the law enforcement is reviewing videos made by the suspect driving to louisiana. inside the vehicle, police found weapons and a homemade bomb with improvised explosive devices found in the area. louisiana's attorney general telling nbc news they may have been made in all local airbnb.

running towards the chaos, taking down the suspect in a gun battle that left two officers shot. when you look down bourbon street, you look down the path the terrorist took and there were no barriers. he had the ability to go down the street as fast as he wanted. protected barriers or bollards were under repair and not up. instead, police strategically blocked ritual vehicles to block the roads. still, their prevention plan failed. >> we did indeed have a plan but the tariffs defeated at. >> reporter: the city council calling for more scrutiny. >> the sidewall protection is not what it should be. >> reporter: among those killed, a recent high school grad, 28-year-old former princeton football player, and nicole perez, who leaves behind

a 5-year-old son. >> she's gone and will never come back. her baby -- what do i tell him? i don't know how i can explain it to him. >> reporter: the community left to grapple with the new year and a tragedy. >> tom llamas with that report. truly, truly heartbreaking. jesse kirsch is in louisiana. a lot of focus today beyond the investigation will be safeguarding the sugar bowl, a college football playoff game initially scheduled for last night postponed until this afternoon. give us the latest on the ground. >> reporter: first of all, the fact it is being played this afternoon is not sitting well with everyone. the attorney general in louisiana said she wishes this

was pushed back at least another day. jonathan, we know from the superintendent they are planning to have law enforcement standing here at an equal level or potentially at a higher level than they were planning for the super bowl, which will be at the same venue next month. what fans can expect when they get here, we have seen barricades along the sidewalks extended over the last day or so and we are hearing from the sugar bowl if people are parking in the venue space itself, expect a security screening for your vehicle. one of the unknowns in all of this besides the potential for nerves and enhanced security presence is what it will look like inside the venue. we do not have any indication the schedule of events has changed but we will be looking for a moment of silence, tributes in the stands, and will the stance be filled? the venue seats 70,000 people but some people told the team

they will go home. it feels safer to watch this on tv so it is not universally accepted people feel ready to go to this game. the governor of louisiana says he will be there to try to reassure fans who are coming to the game. all of this as we expect bourbon street to open later today and on top of this, of course, is remembering the lives lost. when georgia and notre dame kicked off today, the flags at allstate buildings across louisiana will be at half staff. jonathan? >> of course, just a month from now, the world is hosting this year's super bowl. jesse kirsch, we appreciate it. joining us now, national security analyst, former fbi special agent, clint. welcome back. also returning, justice and intelligence correspondence ken dilanian, and former assistant for counterintelligence at the

fbi, frank. he is a national security and intelligence analyst. and also with us, our friend sam stein. thank you, gentlemen, for being with us. in the 24 hours since the attack, a profile is starting to emerge of the suspect. someone who lived in texas, spent time in the military, was overseas, what is your sense here of what you have learned? which pictures are emerging, and what do you make of these possible ties to isis? >> you know, as is always the case with those who murder themselves as part of a larger cause, there is far more behind it when you scratch the surface and we are beginning to see that. what do i mean? this is a troubled individual with significant financial problems. he is in debt and could not make child support payments.

he had a restraining order against him from the second divorce and his businesses have failed after military life so we cannot jump to the conclusion this is all about kind of an isis or violent ideology, but rather a search for something, a search for purpose and certainly mostly the video about him literally as he is driving towards new orleans explaining why he is doing that in his own mind. >> ken, let's talk about the latest in the investigation. what do we know now in terms of questions about security failures there at bourbon street? we have talked about that a lot. they are being repaired ahead of the super bowl but not ready for the sugar bowl or new year's eve, and it tell us about the possible connections between what happened in las vegas with a cybertruck

exploding in front of the trump hotel. >> reporter: good morning, jonathan. they are investigating a possible connection and don't have hard evidence but there are a couple of coincidences that marriage investigation, including the fact both vehicles were rented through this app, sort of an airbnb that allows people to rent private vehicles from individuals. there may have been a military connection, both the driver of the cybertruck and the new orleans suspect. again, the priority for the investigation is you heard the police chief on the today show in the clip that we played is they are running down whether there are any possible accomplices to this suspect and she made very clear they don't have hard evidence there is and they don't have additional suspects they are looking for but they are running down anyone with any contact with this individual. it is unfortunate the last

thing the special agent in charge said about this in public yesterday was we don't believe he acted alone and that comment appears to be based on misreading video surveillance evidence. the fbi will update the public about exactly what they know about whether they suspect there are any accomplices, whether the people of new orleans or the united states have anything to worry about. are there terrorist accomplices running around out there or not? is this crossing the t's and the dotting the i's. very troubled individual flopped onto this isis ideology and we have seen this time and time again but there appears to be no evidence isis directed this attack and we don't know how deeply he was with isis. that is part of the investigation. >> as ken said, that does not

mean he is taking orders from some shadowy figure overseas but someone immersed in the rhetoric or ideology or looking for an excuse to hate and act out on violent impulses. how challenging is that for law enforcement to not only pieced together motives but a strike like this? >> 20 years, 10 years, just look at the change from the internet. we went from foreign fighters to almost entirely inspired actions from different individuals that just declare allegiance and put together. separately how do we learn to construct the devices? we are getting some information about that. i'm not sure if the devices work. how does he know to do these things?

is it from the military or not? across-the-board if you're trying to detect this stuff, think of it from a law enforcement perspective. you've got arrange of international groups and ideologies, a range of domestic groups and ideologies, and a group that want to do harm and aren't connected to any ideology. with the online environment, we are not talking about two social media apps anymore. we are talking about dozens and it's difficult to scan and watch when there are no ties or affiliation to any group. >> president joe biden addressed the nation last night about the attack in new orleans and called the incident despicable, vowing to keep the american people updated on the situation. >> i know i can speak for all americans when i say our hearts are with those after this despicable attack that occurred in your wee morning hours. to all of the families of those

killed, to those injured, to those grieving today, i want you to know that i grieve with you. our nation grieves with you. we are going to stand with you as you mourn and as you heal in the weeks to come. >> sam, president biden acting there as comforter in chief. let's talk about president- elect trump, who trolled with outright misinformation and lies yesterday, seizing upon a fox news report the truck came across the border, suggesting it was some sort of migrant behind the wheel to talk to us about how frankly irresponsible that is, but also the idea this incident was a new focus on national security may ease the path for his cabinet nominations to go through. >> the first reaction from president-elect trump was to blame this on a border crossing

based on a report that had to do with the rental of this truck. ended up being corrected by trump's post did not end up being corrected and late last night he continued to hammer away at this idea things are out of control at the border and now is the time for tough policies to be implemented. this is what we expect from him. this is the reaction we have come to anticipate in these moments and it is what it is. he is not president yet but we know from the past this is how he reacts. in terms of his nominees, i think ultimately for the national security slate, for pete hegseth, tulsi gabbard, kash patel, you can see the case senator say he needs his team in quickly and even though we might have reservations about their views, their management experience, their

past personal lives, you need to push these nominations through. the one caveat is when it comes to kash patel, obviously he is a controversial nominee but he is likely to not be considered right away. the reason for that, the judiciary committee in the senate will likely go with the attorney general nomination first and you cannot do things simultaneously. we will expect pam bondi's nomination to happen before kash patel and that could be pushed back a couple of weeks into february but i would make the case or gas that republicans who may be on the fence about these nominees will ultimately be persuaded to be -- in light of what happened yesterday. >> that will happen when the session returns tomorrow and in the coming weeks. frank, let's go back to you with a big picture look if you

will. walk us through how national security has evolved since september 11th, obviously the biggest terrorist attack on u.s. soil. talk to us about how things have changed in the past two decades. >> there is good news, bad news. after 9/11, there was a global war on terrorism. leadership was taken out and neutralized. new leaders were appointed with a very short tenure because they were targeted in great numbers. here is the bad news. decentralization, some recruitment occurred online that you did not need the three layers. you know the bureaucracy of three layers of approval before acting out on a mission. if you've got a shot, take your shot and you've got a green light to do it. that is really hard for law enforcement. this happens in areas private chat rooms and places the fbi

finds difficult to penetrate so that is the challenge here we are facing and what we saw happen yesterday. >> quite a big picture look there. frank figliuzzi, thank you very much. clint watts, ken dilanian, you have logged many hours for us this morning and we appreciate you very much. let's bring in senior white house correspondent gabe gutierrez. as he mentioned, president biden and president-elect trump both addressed the attack in new orleans and did so in very different affairs. what more can you tell us as you were there with the president-elect in south florida? >> reporter: hi there, jonathan. yesterday we were waiting to see when president biden would weigh in on this and of course he addressed reporters briefly as he moved from delaware to camp david. it was late in the day when he delivered his brief remarks about beyond -- the ongoing

investigation. social media videos showed he was inspired by isis. that was one response and the white house very careful not to get out ahead of federal investigators on the ground. president-elect trump came out pretty early yesterday on social media lashing onto the false speculation that the legit killer may have been from across the border. of course, that turned out to be false but overnight he did post on social media arguing the attacks are part of a larger erosion of society that only strengthen -- leadership can stop. he did comment briefly on the incident in los angeles. his son, eric, did put out a statement thanking local responders there but trump has

been largely silent on this issue. we have not seen him on camera since the attacks unfolded yesterday. he did spend a large part of yesterday at the golf course, his golf course here in palm beach county, but we have no indication he plans to address any of these attacks at any point today. still waiting to hear from the white house on when biden may deliver more extensive remarks. he, later on today, is expected to deliver remarks several times, including on judicial nominations and honoring presidential medal given to chairs of the january 6th committee, liz cheney and bennie thompson. >> we will hear from him there and of course to the surprise of no one, president trump would not admit he made a mistake. gabe gutierrez, we appreciate it. time for a look at the other headlines this morning. a new florida law bans children

from under 14 having social media accounts. that law is now in effect. the legislation allows 14 and 15-year-olds to have accounts only if authorized by their parents. the new law will not begin until next month due to ongoing legal challenges questioning the constitutionality. social media companies could face fines of $50,000 per violation. to the state of iowa now. it has adopted a new flat income tax. the new rate in the state is now 3.8%. iowa democrats want the new system to pause revenue to dry up while republicans point out the state has the option to draw from surplus funds to make up for any revenue shortfalls. iowa joins 13 other states that have adopted flat income tax systems. u.s. egg production dropped in the month of november

according to the department of agriculture. this comes as egg prices are on the rise, a trend experts warn will continue this year if cases of bird flu increase. the cost of eggs in the state of california has already jumped 70% in the past month, reaching nearly $9.00 per dozen. coming up on "morning joe," we will go to washington. house speaker mike johnson faces reelection tomorrow, but does he have the votes to retain the gavel? ali vitali will join us with the latest. you are watching "morning joe" and we will be right back.

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included, for only $15 a month. welcome back. we return now to the attack in new orleans, where the incident could be investigated on capitol hill. josh hawley of missouri is asking mayorkas and chris wray to testify in front of the

senate. he says the outgoing fbi director should provide answers about what happened. for the latest, let's bring in nbc news capitol hill correspondent ali vitali. ali, good to see you this morning. i'm expecting questions will be asked if these appearances do, indeed, occur. talk about that and a theme we have been touching on throughout the morning here, whether this incident will put a spotlight on national security. what is your reporting tell you about how it may impact the ongoing confirmation on some of trump's national security choices. >> reporter: i've been listening to parts of your conversation throughout the morning, jonathan, and you are right to bring up a renewed focus in the national security space because when we left before the term this year, a lot of conversation on capitol hill was how trump's nominees

are in this national security space. you have been talking about them all morning, like kash patel, pete hegseth, and others, so certainly the renewed focus would be there because the confirmation processes would start to kick up mid-january. senators are eager to confirm the nominees for the president- elect with republican majorities in the senate, house, and control of the other side of pennsylvania avenue so the focus would already be there but this will certainly provide renewed focus and a renewed spotlight on the nominees and the need to confirm them quickly. in the meantime though, you are right to point out there are still people serving in these positions. there are demands from members on capitol hill, specifically josh hawley, but i would imagine as more lawmakers make their way back into town we will hear larger outcry for this. there is a desire for immediate hearings from a mayorkas and from wray to shed further light on the situation.

new year, same congress. you are right to say there will be grandstanding along with that. it wouldn't be the senate without that but we are waiting to see how this will come together because mayorkas and wray were supposed to testify in annual hearings at the end of last year and both of them declined to show up. the hearings were scratched and canceled. a lot of anger on capitol hill over that and there are new calls for them to appear and all of the topics they were supposed to talk about at the end of the year that never happened. >> ali, before you get to the hearings in the house, you have to convene the house. >> reporter: yeah. >> tomorrow we are expecting a vote for the speaker. obviously johnson is in a difficult spot. he's got a bit of a lifeline from president- elect trump who a couple of days ago came out and said he endorsed him but we are

uncertain about his future. what does your latest reporting tell you about this? and secondarily, can you talk about the rules package that has been introduced? they are trying to make it's only nine republicans can introduce a motion to vacate the chair, which would be an effective measure of getting rid of the speaker in the future. >> reporter: you are right. it is roughly a 30 page document that sets the rules of what congress will use as it goes forward and tries to function. we say try because of your first question, but one of the key rules is the way republicans have changed the way to vacate the threshold. mccarthy ended up making this change and it was his own undoing. they have raised the number and are saying you can only be a member of the majority party. certainly this is something angering democrats before the

new congress has begun, but it is a notable sign of how republicans are going to be using their majority power however slim it is to try to at least keep control of their very raucous conference. we could see it right on display tomorrow when the house comes back and tries to begin a new. there is a sense mike johnson, of course, is the only person i could get to the magic number, but that does not mean there are not detractors. the number is two in terms of two slots in this process but for mike johnson, he can only afford to lose one person voting for someone else. if you lose that second person and they vote for someone else, that becomes a problem because johnson can't get to the number he needs, but if he loses one person to be present vote, or if the person does not show up in the chamber, if people vote present or absenteeism gets

into play, that is when we start figuring out the magic number is no longer 217. it becomes 216 because someone is out and that is the thing we will be watching closely because certainly we have seen people like thomas massie for months now not keen on keeping johnson as speaker but there are others like chick roy and things procedurally he might want johnson to agree to. you know, that 72 hours rowley were talking about a few weeks ago, the reason the 72 hour rule was in the package for the last congress are because of people like chip roy whose entire ethos is like let's go back to the original features. let's not speed things up. let's slow things down when it comes to government money and spending and he wants to do things in a slower fashion so americans have more transparency and it's less easy to pass government funding

bills. there are probably four to six other republicans on the fence at this point, but the johnson argument remains he is the only person that could get the votes needed and there is not a lot of eagerness of other people stepping up. gosh, i wonder why. >> it is an uninspiring picture for the job. if not me, who can't get to the number? but it might work for speaker johnson. we will see. we will find out tomorrow. ali vitali, thank you. when the clock struck midnight yesterday, hundreds of new laws took effect across the country, including measures that boost the minimum wage in nearly half of the states. nbc minds ken dilanian, who we spoke to quite a bit earlier, gives us a new look at a handful of these measures. >> reporter: hell have no fury like a swiftie scorned.

a woman missed out on the tickets after long waits and astronomical fees. >> she was stunned when she made it through to the end and found out there was $100 in fees added onto the $500 ticket. >> reporter: house file 1989, a reference to swift's birth year, is not law adding a layer of consumer protection. >> this allows consumers upfront to know what the total cost of the ticket will be. >> reporter: scarlett johansson expressed anger this year when a chatbot featured a voice that sounded a lot like hers. >> looks like you are pretty happy and cheerful. >> reporter: in california it's illegal to use artificial intelligence to replicate an actor's voice or likeness without permission. the screen actors guild president, fran drescher, called the law an important protection. >> what will happen when humans don't have a place to make a

living and continue to feed their family? >> reporter: escalating retail theft. california adopted a series of laws designed to make it easier to arrest, prosecute, and jail shoplifters. >> you have seen communities come together to understand we have to hold these offenders accountable. that could be jail. also it could be drug rehab or mental counseling. >> reporter: first responders in florida got protections. it's a crime to threaten or harass them as they do their work. >> we are trying to interview people and we've got people walking up right into our faces , "this is our right." >> reporter: it'll make it harder to record police interactions. officers can order people to remain 25 feet away from the scene. >> they have become our allies, our witnesses, our means of survival. they have documented injustices

that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. >> reporter: a colorado law passed in 2020 is finally taking effect and sets a new standard for how egg laying birds can be confined. all exits sold in the state of colorado will be required to be cage free by 2025, and texas is eliminating safety inspections for vehicles. drivers have to register their cars and pay the inspection fee. they will be required to drive cars and trucks free of safety hazards, such as broken tail lights. not everyone thinks it's a great idea. >> the last thing we need. we do not need self-governance because the majority of customers who talk to us if it was not because of the state inspection would not get their bald tires replaced or their brakes done. >> our thanks again to ken dilanian. coming up, we turn to

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welcome back. to other headlines now. ukraine has halted the flow of gas into europe. there was a five-year agreement between russia and ukraine that expired at the end of 2024 and neither side was willing to strike a deal in the middle of the ongoing war. the stoppage affects eu nations and will cost both governments billions. let's bring in cnbc's dominic chu d nior business correspondent christine romans. good morning to you both. dom, what more can you tell us about how this might affect the

price of natural gas in united states? >> reporter: sure. we are already seeing the price of natural gas rising sharply. it hit a peak over the last couple of days here not just because of the ukraine and russia treaty or that agreement expiring, but we are getting seasonably colder times of the year this time around and on average here in the east coast of the u.s. the forecast for the first half of this month is to get colder temperatures than normal as well. you factor in ukraine, russia, gas supplies, the colder weather season approaching, the u.s. east coast have in colder weather in the next few weeks as well, and all of a sudden, you have this perfect storm -- no pun intended -- for natural gas prices. the question is whether those prices stay elevated. to be fair, they hit the highest level in the last two years demand in the back half

of january into february and march could have a more tempering effect if those weather patterns get a little warmer so it's a volatile trait for sure and one a lot of people are watching but remember the u.s. natural gas industry is on the rise right now and more capacity comes online that could help prices as well. >> you are right. there is a forecasted cold snap in the u.s. over the next few weeks. the first trading day of the new year kicked off moments ago. robust? >> reporter: yeah. >> what are you looking for as we kick off 2025? >> reporter: two great years in the stock market. will we make it to three? something to watch as they are saying the baseline is there for more games this year but maybe not with 23% we saw lester and the 20 plus percent the year before. the last two years together

were the strongest performance of the s&p 500 in a generation. a lot of uncertainty. what will trump 2.0 mean for tariffs and inflation? the president-elect is promising to get gas prices down but inflation is pretty sticky here and we think the fed will ease off for the beginning part of the year. a lot of uncertainty about what will happen next but a lot of economists tell me you've got a i driving a lot of enthusiasm with some of these tech stocks. you've got a consumer still spending money and an economy that is robust. robust coming in gangbusters in the new year. >> sam stein here. we are getting word we are on the verge of another port strike. we had one initially. what more can you tell us here? >> reporter: what's interesting about this, this is an extension of the port strike we saw in october this fall. we saw a three-day strike and

it wrapped up with a huge amount of wage gains for port workers especially near the gulf coast. the sticking point and the thing that got people away from the negotiating table and the real point here is the use of automation in the future. that is going to be the point contested by both the union and the u.s. maritime alliance. basically the entity that represents the docs themselves, shipping companies that use those facilities instead of just the wages being a factor. it is about whether or not there is job security for port workers in the future and that is why this particular instance could be a little more -- possibly more volatile than the last one we saw in the fall because this will be the real sticking point, how these workers are either replaced by or augmented by automation in the future. now to be fair on both sides here there is a point to be made those port jobs could be

replaced by equipment in the future. meanwhile, those companies and ports themselves say they can stay competitive with the rest of the world in ports and other transportation means by using that automation feature. the economic impact was fairly nonexistent during the last one and it's not expected to be big this time around either, but if ports are shut for a week or two or three, you could see a big up against our gross domestic product. that is something both sides want to avoid, guys. >> the timing comes in the new year but also couple of weeks before donald trump takes office. >> reporter: january 15th. frankly for a lot of months importers have been borrowing and buying warehouse space to frontload their inventories because they are worried about a strike or a shutdown here.

it's interesting because this is an industry that has been modernizing with a lot of automation over and over again and labor feels like it has a moment here they can protect these 47,000 jobs to make sure they will never be wiped away by automation so i think there is a real chance for a big fight here in the next few weeks. >> christine romans and dom chu, our thanks to you both. coming up on "morning joe," we will dig into the feud between actress blake lively and director justin baldoni. also an actor of course, he is suing the new york times for $250 million. "morning joe" will be right back. ugh. stop waiting. start investing. e*trade ® from morgan stanley. how did i ever miss this? before you were preventing migraine with qulipta? you'll never truly forget migraine,

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2025. there are new developments in a growing legal dispute between actress blake lively and director justin baldoni, and costars in the film, it ends with us. entertainment correspondent chloe melas has the latest. >> reporter: the legal battle in the costars of it ends with us in full swing with two explosive lawsuits filed on new year's eve. justin baldoni suing the new york times for an article reporting blake lively's campaigns he directed a smear campaign against her. baldoni's lawsuit calling it rife with inaccuracies, relying on a self-serving narrative and showing examples of text messages the lawsuit says work misleadingly edited by blake lively and published by the new york times such as indicating an emotive indicating the comment was sarcastic. >> they alleged the times cherry picked and decided to

take snippets of negative things, negative text messages out of context and put them in their article, which ended up making baldoni and others look bad. >> reporter: the new york times says it plans to vigorously defend against the lawsuit. meanwhile blake lively filing her lawsuit against baldoni as well as the pr team they hired in new york federal court. the suit laid out in lively's bombshell complaint alleges baldoni and the lead producer engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior on set. >> okay. >> reporter: and the lawsuit says baldoni and the production company directed the pr team to actively engage under retaliatory social manipulation campaign. other defendants have called the allegations categorically false. baldoni's talent agency told nbc news they dropped him as a client in the wake of lively's

complaint. his podcast co-host announced her departure from the show. the legal drama surrounding it ends with us, only the beginning. in other news, authorities in hawaii are investigating the cause of the new year's eve fireworks explosion that killed at least three people and injured dozens of others in a residential neighborhood in honolulu. nbc news correspondent liz kreutz has the latest. >> reporter: in hawaii, a new year's eve celebration turning deadly after illegal fireworks exploded at a home in honolulu, igniting a fiery blast that authorities say killed three people and radically injured more than 20 others. >> what should have been a night of joyous celebration has instead become one of sorrow in the community. >> reporter: the explosion happened just after midnight in the new year when video showed dozens of amateur fireworks lit up the honolulu sky. >> every firework is illegal.

this situation is out of control and it cannot be allowed to continue. >> reporter: a new year's eve party was taking place in a carport of a three-story home when a bundle of lit fireworks fell over, setting off a chain reaction. >> it was essentially a bomb. they were fireworks but they were put together in a way they were so explosive they took the table down apparently. >> reporter: according to the authorities, two women died at the scene and another died at the hospital. two dozen others were taken with serious injuries. >> all of them had burns. many of them had shrapnel injuries. >> reporter: video capturing chaos in the street after the explosion. >> it blasted outward, like this. it took the houses and cars in front of it. >> reporter: adrienne was visiting from southern california. he and his friends were a few blocks over from the blast. >> it looked like a ball of

fire. it is sad to think as we are counting down for new year's, people are losing their lives. >> reporter: hawaii's governor saying enough is enough, calling for legislation making it a felony to have fireworks over 50 pounds. >> we are talking about a war zone and injuries that took their lives and that will continue to happen if we don't take, as a society, real action. coming up, we will bring the latest from the college football playoffs including the big ten battle in the rose bowl. we will be right back with that. nothing brings us together like eggland's best eggs. always so fresh and delicious. plus, superior nutrition. for us, it's eggs any style. as long as they're the best. eggland's best.

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welcome back. turning the college football playoffs with arizona state taking on texas in the peach bowl. texas jumped out to a 14 point lead returning that pond 75 yards for the score. it looked like this was the beginning of a blowout but putting up 16 points in the

final seven minutes of the fourth quarter including this 42 yard halfback pass on fourth down. we go to overtime now and after both teams traded scores, texas needed one play in double ot to find the end zone with gunnar helm within 25 yard pass. arizona state had a chance to tie, but andrew had other ideas picking off sam leavitt and that does it clinching a 39-31 victory texas moves on to the semifinals in the cotton bowl. to pasadena and the rose bowl which was yesterday's other playoff quarterfinal, ohio state taking on oregon in a big ten matchup. this game wasn't even close with 44 points in the first half, will howard going for three touchdowns racking up 319 yards. they rolled to an easy 41-21 victory and they will take on

texas a week from friday. sam stein, morgan, a topsy- turvy year but they've been number one for most of the season. yesterday they go out and just got smoked. >> a tough day for the old pac- 12. oregon both members now -- i can never keep track. who knows. not great. the arizona state texas game was incredible. it was one of the few really good college football playoff games so far. there was an obvious mist targeting call on texas which may be salvaged them. hopefully the games are more like that one then the oregon ohio state one. >> layoffs have been underwhelming but there's a chance to get better. that doesn't press this morning. thank you sam and thanks for all of you. we pick up msnbc's coverage