Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral

0:02The FBI continues to investigate the deadly attack in New Orleans. They've also been looking into a possible link between that attack and the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas. I'm Eric Deggans. I'm Aisha Roscoe, and this is Up First from NPR News.

0:20What made an American-born veteran claim allegiance with ISIS and carry out a deadly attack? We'll bring you the latest on that story. Plus, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson holds on to his job, but only just. So who changed their votes to help Johnson and how will he get things done with a very slim majority? Plus, the planned events start to mark the passing of former President Jimmy Carter. Stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend.

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3:18This message comes from Dell Technologies. The new Dell PC with Intel Core Ultra helps you fast forward through busy work, leaving more time for you time. Get a new Dell PC at dell.com slash ai dash pc. Authorities are still learning about what was behind the deadly attack in New Orleans in the early hours of New Year's Day. At least 14 people were killed after a man drove his pickup truck into a crowd celebrating the start of the new year. NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas joins us now with the latest on this investigation into what the FBI is calling a terrorist attack. Hi, Ryan. Hi there.

3:57Ryan, the driver has been identified as Shamsuddin Jabbar. He was a U.S. citizen. What else do we know about him and why he decided to carry out this attack? Right. Well, Jabbar was born in Texas. He grew up there. He served in the U.S. Army for many years as a human resource specialist as well as an IT guy. He also started a few businesses. Several of them appear to have had severe financial difficulties recently. He's been divorced several times. Now, the FBI has said that Jabbar was inspired to carry out this attack by the Islamic State terrorist group. He uploaded several videos to the Internet in the hours immediately leading up to the attack talking about this.

4:35Here's the FBI's Christopher Rhea. In the first video, Jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the, quote, war between the believers and the disbelievers, end quote. Additionally, he stated he had joined ISIS before this summer. He also provided a will and testament. Now, in addition to those videos, investigators also recovered an ISIS flag from the back of Jabbar's truck. Now, the FBI says Jabbar appears to have acted alone. And that's important because the Bureau originally said he might have had help, accomplices, but after an initial investigation chasing down leads, it says it does not appear that Jabbar did have any accomplices.

5:19So what does the FBI mean when it says this attack was inspired by ISIS? Well, there's an important distinction here between an attack that is directed by a terrorist group and one that is inspired by a terrorist group. In a directed attack, a terrorist organization is in contact with a person or a cell of people, say, in the United States and directs them, for example, to attack a specific target. In an inspired attack, in contrast, there doesn't need to be any direct contact. An individual instead can say, watch or read ISIS propaganda online, come to sympathize with the group's ideology or its worldview, and then decide to carry out violence to act in the group's name on their own.

5:57And in the case of the Islamic State, of ISIS, it has pushed this idea in its online propaganda. It's urged people to use whatever tools they have on hand, including cars, to attack soft targets, things such as public celebration like New Year's Eve. The FBI director told Congress this past summer, in fact, that this is the kind of threat that it's seen from foreign terrorist organizations now. And those sorts of attacks, U.S. counterterrorism officials often say are incredibly hard to stop because there isn't a big operation that the FBI can penetrate beforehand to disrupt it. Right. And it seems terrorism doesn't necessarily dominate headlines in the U.S.

6:35now like it did, say, a decade ago. For a lot of people, it seemed like the threat of a mass casualty terrorist attack in the U.S. had kind of disappeared. You cover this stuff. What have you been hearing? Well, you're right. Terrorism is not a front page issue the way that it once was. Certainly not like we saw after 9-11 and also not like a decade ago when the Islamic State was at its apex. But the Islamic State still has branches, affiliates around the world that are very much active. And as for the threat in the U.S., what I would say is that counterterrorism officials here have been saying for a while that the threat may not be at the level that it once was, but it also most definitely has not disappeared.

7:15FBI Director Christopher Wray has warned about the danger posed in particular by what the FBI calls homegrown violent extremists, people who radicalize on their own and decide to carry out an attack here in the U.S. Ray has also said that the threat level more broadly has really spiked after the Hamas attack on Israel in October of 2023. And I should note that the Justice Department has recently foiled what it says were plots on behalf of ISIS just in the past year, including one in Oklahoma and another in New York. Well, I want to turn quickly to the other incident we saw on New Year's Day, the Cybertruck explosion outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas.

7:53Now, was that connected to what happened in New Orleans? Robert Leonard Authorities say at this point in time, there is no evidence that those two incidents are linked in any way. Investigators have identified the driver of the Cybertruck as Matthew Leibelsberger. He was a master sergeant in the U.S. Army, a Green Beret, a decorated combat vet with multiple tours in Afghanistan. And authorities say that Leibelsberger shot and killed himself in the Cybertruck right before it exploded. As for the question of why, the FBI says Leibelsberger bore no animosity toward Trump. So it wasn't about that.

8:26It says their investigation so far suggests that Leibelsberger was likely suffering from mental health issues and also had some other family issues. Here's FBI Special Agent Spencer Evans. It ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who is struggling with PTSD and other issues. Investigators also release experts of Leivelsberger's writings in which he says America is headed toward collapse, that this is a wake-up call. And he also says in one that he needs to cleanse his mind of brothers that he lost and relieve himself of the burdens of lives that he took.

9:02Well, that's NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas. Ryan, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you.

9:17Congress just started its new session on Friday, and there's drama already. Oh, things got tense. Republican Mike Johnson had to fight attempts to oust him before he was reelected Speaker of the House of Representatives. NPR congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh was at the Capitol for opening day and joins us now. Good morning. Good morning, Eric. So we saw in real time the House Republicans' narrow majority. How did Mike Johnson keep his party together to get a second term as Speaker? Well, it took some heavy lobbying and critically the help of President-elect Donald Trump to get Johnson over the line.

9:53The Speaker could only afford to lose one Republican going into this vote, and Kentucky Congressman Tom Massey made it clear he wasn't going to vote for him. He voted for the Republican whip instead. Initially, there were two other Republicans, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas, who voted for people other than Johnson. I was in the chamber as this vote dragged on and on, and it was clear Johnson didn't have the votes, and we expected it to go a second round. But then I saw Johnson leave the floor with both Norman and Self, and they both came back and dramatically changed their votes so he could win on the first ballot.

10:29You know, it was very clear Trump did not want this to drag out. You know, no other business can happen until a speaker is elected in the House. And on Monday, they are slated to certify the 2024 election results. And that's something Trump did not want to delay at all. So what did Johnson say will be his top priority? Well, addressing border security was a Republican's top priority in the 2024 campaign. and the Speaker made it clear yesterday this was an issue they would take up right out of the gate. We will act quickly and we will start by defending our nation's borders. That's the number one program.

11:03The rules package the House passed yesterday that governs how the chamber is going to operate also included a rule to tee up several immigration bills. These are proposals that House Republicans have pushed through before, things like cutting off federal money for any cities that are dubbed so-called sanctuary cities for undocumented migrants. The difference now is there's now a Senate Republican majority to help push through border security legislation. So speaking of the Senate, there's a new Senate majority leader, John Thune. What are his plans? Well, it was definitely a smoother first day for John Thune.

11:37He now has a 53-seat Republican majority, and he's been coordinating very closely with President-elect Trump and Speaker Johnson. First, Thune is focused on getting Trump's cabinet nominees confirmed in the Senate. Republicans need a simple majority to get these nominees through. So far, there's been no Republican senator who's come out publicly as a no for any nominee. But if any four Republicans did break, you know, one of Trump's nominees couldn't get confirmed. You know, there are some controversial nominees that we've talked about before, like Pete Hegseth to be the defense secretary, Tulsi Gabbard to serve as the director of national intelligence.

12:14And there's still some Republican senators who want more details. Things like the FBI background check. Other confirmation hearings are expected to start in mid-January. So what is Thune saying about what legislation he wants to move? You know, his plans track those of Trump's. Here's how Thune summed it up yesterday. We have a lot to do, Ms. Congress. Order security. Extending the tax relief Republicans delivered during the first Trump administration. Lifting burdensome and expensive government regulations to help American businesses and families flourish. Thune is already hard at work drafting an initial legislative package he plans to move using special rules that get around a Democratic filibuster.

12:54Like Johnson, he wants to do border security first. That package initially in the Senate will also include some energy policies. And then a separate tax bill is going to come later in 2025. Well, that's NPR's Deirdre Walsh. Thanks so much for joining us, Deirdre. Happy to do it, Eric.

13:17Today marks the start of nearly a week's worth of funereal events to honor former President Jimmy Carter. He passed away earlier this week at the age of 100. Grant Blankenship of Georgia Public Broadcasting is covering those events, starting with a motorcade in the town of Americus, Georgia. Good morning, Grant. Yeah, good morning. So as I mentioned, the procession begins in the town of Americus at the medical center where Carter's body's been held. And then it heads to Plains? Yeah, that's right. It heads to Plains. And downtown there in Plains, people are going to be lining the street to watch the procession.

13:51From there, it's going to go to the family farm where Carter grew up a few miles away. And then pause. And there, the farm bell will toll 39 times. Now, of course, it's ringing 39 times because Carter was the 39th president of the United States. And there's some symbolism in the tolling of a bell. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, here in the South, family farms typically had an iron bell. My grandmother had one. She used to let me ring to call everybody in to eat when the whole family was together. You know, on a farm, the bell was the signal that work was done and it was time to come home. So who will be part of this procession?

14:26So, you know, there'll be members of the Carter family in the motorcade. There will be people Carter brought from planes to the White House. There'll be old friends. They're going to drive for like five hours before arriving later in Atlanta. And it's pretty cold this morning. People are expected to line the roads in some of the towns that they pass through. So there will be a lot of ceremony and a lot of symbolism along this route. Yeah, absolutely. I spoke to Ben Gray. He's a longtime Georgia photojournalist. He's been tapped by the Carter family to document every piece of the activity here in Georgia.

14:57And he'll be in the procession the whole way. Every step of it is important historically. It's obviously a very choreographed funeral. and it has many points and each one of them has a deep significance to the Carters and to the people of Georgia and of the United States that, you know, knew him and grew to love him, both as a president and what he did afterwards. And you know that afterwards was really his work at the Carter Center in Atlanta, where he will lie in repose until Tuesday. And what happens then? Well, so then his body will be flown to Washington, D.C. for a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, where he'll lie in state until Thursday.

15:35And then there'll be an official state funeral attended by President Biden, members of Congress, as well as President-elect Donald Trump. But this will all circle back where Carter's life began, back to Plains, with a family ceremony Thursday evening at Carter's home church, Maranatha Baptist. That's where photographer Ben Gray says he's going to be most attuned to capturing those important moments. It's the final goodbye, and it's going to be a chance, I think, for the family, you know, having been almost on display for some of this, right? They're there, but it's the official choreographed funeral procession and those points.

16:10But back at the home church at Maranatha, it's smaller. You know, it's going to be just family and friends. They're going to actually get to be there and say goodbye to them. And then Thursday evening, Carter will be laid to rest at his home in Plains next to his wife, Rosalyn. That's Grant Blankenship of Georgia Public Broadcasting. Grant, thank you so much for those details about the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. That's Up First for Saturday, January 4th, 2025. I'm Eric Deggans. And I'm Aisha Roscoe. Our producer is Michael Radcliffe with help from Gabe O 'Connor and Andrew Craig, who's also our director today.

16:49Our editors are Dee Parvaz, Martha Ann Overland, Kelsey Snell, and Krishnadev Kalamer. Andy Huther is our technical director with engineering support from Jay Sizz, David Greenberg, and Arthur Halliday-Lorent. Evie Stone is our senior supervising editor. Sarah Lucia Oliver is our executive producer. Jim Cain is our deputy managing editor. Tomorrow on the Sunday story, does the U.S. military have an extremism problem? We look back at the January 6th Capitol riots and at the many participants who had a military background. And for the latest news, plus delightful conversations about books, movies, and more, listen to Weekend Edition.

17:30You can find us on the radio, your smartphone. Go to stations.npr.org to find your local NPR station and listen to us, you know, on the weekends. Yeah, it's always a good thing. Yeah.

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