More than a dozen people are dead in two potential terror attacks, a major lawsuit by a detransitioner delivers a major blow to the youth gender medicine industry, and Bible sales see a notable spike. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.
Chapter 1: What happened during the New Year's terror attacks?
Two potential terror attacks on New Year's leave over a dozen dead as the FBI expands their investigations.
What do we know so far about who's behind the attacks?
An ISIS flag was located on the trailer hitch of the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject's potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.
I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, January 2nd, and this is Morning Wire. A major lawsuit by a detransitioner could shake up the youth gender medicine industry.
And Bible sales boomed in 2024 amid what some data suggests might be a growing refocus on faith.
I think that we should find that deeply encouraging. I also think that we should think of this as not all that surprising.
Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. The FBI has expanded their search for potential suspects in the deadly terror attack in New Orleans that left at least 15 people dead and dozens more injured early New Year's morning.
At the same time in Las Vegas, a cyber truck explosion outside a Trump hotel is also being investigated as a potential terror attack.
Joining now to discuss the alarming sequence of events on New Year's is Daily Wire deputy managing editor Tim Rice. Hey, Tim. So first, the attack on the French quarter. We reported yesterday on what we knew then, but many more details have come to light since. What is the latest on that investigation?
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Chapter 2: Who is the suspect in the New Orleans attack?
We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates. That's why we need the public's help. We are asking if anybody has any interactions with Samsud Demjavar in the last 72 hours that you contact us.
Now, Duncan named the known suspect there who was killed by police before he could take more lives. What else have we learned about him?
The suspect who drove that rented truck into the crowd and opened fire is a 42-year-old army veteran named Shamsuddin Jabbar. We usually avoid naming these individuals, but authorities are actively working to learn more about his connections, so it helps their investigation to publicize it in this case. Jabbar was on active duty from 2007 until 2015 as a human resources and IT specialist.
He reportedly transferred to the Army Reserve and left as a staff sergeant in the summer of 2020. He was found with an ISIS flag in the vehicle and dressed in full military gear. As we reported yesterday, officers also found an ice chest in the truck with a number of explosive devices that had not yet gone off.
Officials say it's clear that he was hell-bent on killing as many innocent people as possible. The death toll from the attack is now at least 15, with more than two dozen others injured, including two police officers. There are a lot of claims about Jabbar circulating online, but much about his life and motives is still being investigated, so we'll have more on that as it gets more defined.
Right. Now, this wasn't the only suspected terror attack on New Year's Day. What happened in Las Vegas?
Yeah, around 8.40 in the morning, so just a few hours after the New Orleans attack, witnesses reported a series of loud bangs and smoke coming from a Cybertruck parked outside the entrance to the Trump Hotel there. Surveillance footage shows the car bursting into flames just a few steps from the glass door entrance to the hotel.
One unidentified person was found dead in the vehicle, and seven others were injured in the blast. At first, it wasn't clear if the blast was intentional, but police confirmed the car was seen an hour before driving by the Trump Hotel before circling back and parking at the entrance, at which point it exploded within seconds.
Inside the car were a variety of explosives, including firework-style mortars, gas tanks, and camping fuel, along with what authorities describe as a detonation device. ABC reports that both the truck in New Orleans and the Cybertruck may have been rented on the app Toro, although there's some conflicting reports on that. Elon Musk has responded online, saying he suspects this is a terror attack.
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Chapter 3: What details do we have about the Las Vegas explosion?
Of course.
A doctor celebrated as America's best known practitioner of youth gender medicine is being sued for medical negligence by one of her former patients.
Here to discuss is Daily Wire senior reporter Mary Margaret Olihan. Hey, Mary Margaret. So a major lawsuit here. First, why is this detransitioner suing?
Hey, John. Clementine Breen is accusing Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy of medical negligence for fast-tracking her attempted gender transition. Clementine says she underwent puberty blockers at the age of 12, cross-sex hormones at the age of 13, and tragically, underwent a double mastectomy when she was only 14 years old, forever removing her breasts. Hmm.
Her lawyers argue that Olsen-Kennedy and the other medical professionals involved in her transition, they failed to adequately assess and treat her mental health symptoms and her trauma before they launched her down this path of, and I'm quoting, irreversible and life-altering medications and surgery.
The lawsuit describes how Clementine's parents were told that she would commit suicide if they didn't allow her to get these treatments, which, as we've documented here, are dubbed gender-affirming care by far-left groups like the Human Rights Campaign.
So an alarming claim. Is this normal? Is this something we've heard a lot in this industry?
Actually, yes, it's very common for doctors and therapists involved in transgenderism to tell parents this. Many detransitioners that I've spoken with have told me that their parents were asked, would you rather have a dead daughter or a living son? And that's an incredibly manipulative and terrifying question. But unfortunately, many parents fall for it.
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Chapter 4: What is the significance of the detransitioner's lawsuit?
In Clementine's case, she ultimately realized that she could not ever fully transition to become a boy and that she regretted her gender transition. And this case is particularly significant given that Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy leads the Center for Trans Youth at Los Angeles Children's Hospital and is widely considered the most notable youth gender medicine clinician in the world.
She revealed to the New York Times that she purposefully stopped the publication of a $10 million taxpayer-funded study That study was on puberty blockers and their effects on American children. And her reason was that the study found no evidence that puberty blockers were improving kids' mental health. She told The Times, I do not want our work to be weaponized.
Now, advocates against transitioning children point out that Olsen-Kennedy appears to be trying to force science and facts to back up gender ideology rather than just show us the truth of what she found. They say that this is happening far too often when it comes to child gender transitions.
Right. We've seen a pattern here. We've seen some recent action on Capitol Hill on this. How are lawmakers responding to these new revelations?
Well, as we reported, Congress is taking steps to block harmful trans procedures for children of military members by putting language into the NDIA that bans the use of taxpayer funds for gender transition surgeries for kids who get medical care through TRICARE. That's the military's health care program.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told us that this is a, quote, critical and necessary step in the fight against radical gender ideology. He said, and I'm quoting again, taxpayer dollars should never be used to support procedures and treatments that could permanently harm and sterilize young people.
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Chapter 5: How are parents manipulated in the gender transition process?
That came the day after he met with detransitioner Chloe Cole and our colleague Matt Walsh as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the United States versus Scermetti, the case dealing with Tennessee's law protecting kids from trans procedures.
Meanwhile, lawmakers like Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama are calling on the National Institutes of Health to explain why Olson Kennedy tried to hide her findings on puberty blockers. Here's what he had to say.
At the end of the day, they don't improve mental health of children, and they're trying to prove that it did. So it's just another insane idea that the left has had. You know, spending money, taxpayer money, on something that doesn't need to be spent.
And then there's Donald Trump. He's signaled willingness to crack down on these procedures as well, correct?
Yes, Donald Trump has indicated interest in protecting kids from these trans procedures, especially without parental permission, which is happening. Many of the top MAGA figures around Trump have been emphatic about this as well. Tuberville told me that he's not sure a bill banning trans procedures for minors would make it through the Senate right now, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
And we'll report on what happens for sure. Mary Margaret, thanks for coming on.
Thanks for having me.
New publishing reports show that Bible sales are booming, even as overall book sales are sluggish. According to pollsters, Gen Z in particular is spending more time reading scripture. Here to explore what's behind the skyrocketing Bible sales is Daily Wire culture reporter, Megan Basham. So Megan, the Bible is pretty much always the top selling book every year. Is this a particularly banner year?
Yeah, you know, Georgia, it really is, and for a couple of reasons. So one, we have to look at the overall picture in publishing for the last couple of years, and it has not been great. In 2023, for example, sales were down nearly 3%, and they're really not much better this year. But the Bible has been bucking that trend.
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