© AP Photo/Gerald Herbert |
Security heightened nationally after New Year's attack
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THE NATION IS ON EDGE after two shocking instances of violence on New Year’s Day in New Orleans and Las Vegas.
New Orleans is reopening after an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack killed 14 people and injured dozens more on crowded Bourbon Street.
Security at the Sugar Bowl, which is underway about a mile from where the attack took place after being postponed a day, is at the same level as it will be for the Super Bowl in February, according to New Orleans police. There was a moment of silence before Thursday's game between Georgia and Notre Dame to honor victims of the attack. Bourbon Street has also reopened, but there will be a heightened police presence across the country as officials investigate the violence.
Meanwhile, officials have ramped up security around President-elect Trump's properties after fuel canisters and fireworks packed inside a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in front of Trump's hotel in Las Vegas.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams bolstered the police presence at Trump Tower and Times Square as authorities investigate any potential link between the two incidents. In both incidents, one male suspect died.
In Washington, D.C., police have tightened security on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue over fears of further violence. The police cleared a suspicious car and arrested the driver near Capitol Hill earlier Thursday.
A sense of dread will hang over high-profile events deep into January, with Trump’s inauguration Jan. 20. Trump also plans to hold a “victory rally” at Capitol One Arena in Washington on Jan. 19.
The Super Bowl will take place at the Superdome in New Orleans on Feb. 9. |
The FBI now says it believes 42-year old Shamsud-Din Jabbar acted alone when he carried out the attack in New Orleans, after initial reports indicated he may have had accomplices. The FBI has unequivocally declared the attack “an act of terrorism,” after initially declining to do so. Authorities said Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas and an Army veteran, had an ISIS flag on the truck he used in the ramming attack and had posted videos on social media expressing allegiance to the Islamic State.
Meanwhile: Army veteran Matthew Livelsberger from Colorado Springs, Colo., has been identified as the man who died in the Tesla Cybertruck that ignited after being stuffed with mortars and gas canisters. Las Vegas police said Thursday that Livelsberger, an active-duty Special Forces operations sergeant, “sustained a gunshot wound to the head prior to the detonation of the vehicle.”
There were no other fatalities in the explosion, but several people were wounded. It appears the Cybertruck contained most of the blast, limiting damage to the surrounding area. The Las Vegas police said they believe this was “an isolated incident.” Officials say there is so far no evidence of a connection between the two attacks, although there are some strange coincidences.
Jabbar and Livelsberger had both spent time in the Army at North Carolina's Fort Liberty, previously known as Fort Bragg, as well as in Afghanistan, though they did not have overlapping assignments. Both men rented their vehicles on the car rental app Turo. |
Republicans, who hope to overhaul the FBI during Trump’s second term, are closely watching as the investigations unfold. The FBI’s special agent in New Orleans, Alethea Duncan, initially said the attack on Bourbon Street was “not a terrorist event.”
The FBI’s Washington-based Deputy Director of Counterterrorism Division, Christopher Raia, is now in New Orleans and appears to be leading the communications effort.
“Let me be very clear about this point: This was an act of terrorism,” he said on Thursday.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) posted on X:
“The FBI’s initial assessment that the New Orleans attack was not an act of terror is absolutely unacceptable. There is no excuse for this egregious mistake considering there was an ISIS flag in the suspect’s vehicle.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) asked the Senate Homeland Security Committee to call on FBI Director Christopher Wray and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to testify. |
GOP URGES SWIFT CONFIRMATION OF TRUMP'S NAT-SEC NOMINEES |
Republicans say the attacks are evidence that Congress must move quickly to confirm Trump’s national security advisers, including controversial picks such as Kash Patel to lead the FBI and Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence.
“That has to be in place day one... this is a moment in transition, of vulnerability, and President Trump is going to project because he is a leader of strength, the narrative that we project on day one will be … important, and that’s having our people in place,” said Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), who will be Trump’s national security adviser.
“The U.S. Senate must confirm President Trump’s national security team as soon as possible,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) posted on X. “Lives depend on it.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) fumed at news coverage of the attack in New Orleans.
“As I watch coverage of this barbaric, cowardly attack that was ISIS-inspired, it is disturbing how far America has drifted from the fact that we are in a state of war with radical Islamic forces,” Graham wrote in a Thursday post on X.
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💡Perspectives:
• The Wall Street Journal: From New Orleans to Nice, the carnage is familiar.
• The Atlantic: The most effective antidote to ISIS attacks.
• The Hill: Vehicles are increasingly the terrorists’ weapon of choice. |
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Welcome to Evening Report! I'm Jonathan Easley, catching you up from the afternoon and what's coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here. |
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Speaker drama to dominate first day of new Congress
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The 119th Congress will check in for the first time on Friday at noon, and there could be fireworks from the jump.
The first order of business: The House must elect a Speaker before anything else can be done.
That job had been firmly in Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) grasp until late December, when Trump, Elon Musk and a handful of House conservatives torpedoed Johnson's temporary government funding plan.
Trump is back on board, endorsing Johnson for Speaker and expressing confidence that he’ll get the 218 votes he needs for another term. But the GOP’s narrow majority means Johnson can only afford to lose one Republican vote if all Democrats vote against him, as expected.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has already said he will not vote for Johnson under any circumstances. Several other GOP members remain either undecided or uncommitted.
That could mean multiple votes, reminiscent of the first day of the 118th Congress, when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) needed 15 ballots to secure the speakership.
McCarthy was later ousted in an effort pushed by former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), which led to Johnson becoming Speaker.
Johnson is expressing confidence, saying he’s been in contact with the GOP holdouts and believes he’ll get to 218.
“We’re going to get this done,” Johnson told “Fox & Friends.” “I’m humbled and honored to have President Trump’s endorsement for the role again.” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) echoed that sentiment on CNN, although she said it could take a while to get there.
“I believe he will have the votes tomorrow by the end of the day.” |
💡Perspectives: • The Hill: Tossing Speaker Johnson would be a huge mistake.
• The Hill: Skilled immigrants are part of a strategy for growth and prosperity. • The Hill: New House Ethics campaign rules are a belated lump of coal. |
© AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin |
Washington roundup: Biden to honor Cheney at ceremony
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• President Biden on Thursday will give former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest honor a civilian can receive.
Cheney and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) are at the White House to receive medals for their work on the special House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riots on Capitol Hill.
The medal is awarded to U.S. citizens who have “performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens,” according to the White House.
The medal ceremony has angered Republicans, who have accused Cheney of destroying key information from the investigation and of creating false narratives around what happened that day.
"President Biden was either going to pardon Liz Cheney or give her an award. She doesn’t deserve either. She represents partisanship and divisiveness – not Wyoming," Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told Politico. Cheney, a vocal critic of President-elect Trump, campaigned for Vice President Harris in the final days of the 2024 election, warning that Trump represents a threat to democracy.
• The race to be the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee had its first major development on Thursday, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) endorsing Ben Wikler, the current chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Schumer called Wikler a “tenacious organizer, a proven fundraiser, a sharp communicator, & able to reach out to all segments of the Democratic Party.”
A half-dozen other candidates are currently in the race, including Ken Martin, the chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party; former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley; New York state Sen. James Skoufis; Department of Homeland Security official Nate Snyder; former Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson; and former Maryland Senate candidate Robert Houton.
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