The music returns to New Orleans' Bourbon Street, while investigators say a New Year's attacker acted alone. A new Congress prepares for a House speaker vote. And villagers in the Golan Heights tell NPR about Israeli security operations near Syria's border.For more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Russell Lewis, Kelsey Snell, Martin Patience, Jan Johnson, and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Kaity Kline, Nia Dumas and Julie Depenbrock. We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. And our technical director is Stacey Abbott.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: What updates do we have from Bourbon Street?
The music is back on Bourbon Street. Just let them know that the love is still out here.
People resume their lives as the FBI says a New Year's morning attacker acted alone. What's their reading of the evidence?
I'm Steve Inskeep with Layla Fadl, and this is Up First from NPR News. Members of the House of Representatives meet today. Republicans are to elect a speaker, and Mike Johnson will need every vote he can get. A very small number of holdouts would have the power to block him. So what happens if he falls short?
Also, Israel moved into a U.N.-monitored buffer zone when the government collapsed in neighboring Syria. Our correspondent visited the Golan Heights. How are residents describing what Israeli troops are doing? Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
Our long national nightmare is over. Beyonce has finally won the Grammy for Album of the Year. How and why did it take so long for Beyonce to win the top prize at Music's Biggest Night? We're talking about her big wins and breaking down the Grammys for Kendrick Lamar, Chapel Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter. Listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR.
Federal investigators have clarified their understanding. of what happened in New Orleans on New Year's morning.
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Chapter 2: What did the FBI say about the New Year's Day attack?
Most notably, the FBI backed off of a vague statement that the driver of a pickup truck was not solely responsible for an attack on people on Bourbon Street. Now they confirm that, as they understand it now, Shamsuddin Jabbar, an Army veteran from Texas, acted alone.
NPR's Debbie Elliott is in New Orleans with this and other developments. Good morning, Debbie. Hi, good morning. So why did the FBI first suggest a broader conspiracy and then back off?
Well, another day of chasing down leads, and I think in particular a closer look at hundreds of hours of surveillance video. You know, it shows Jabbar placing two explosive devices concealed in coolers in the French Quarter just a few blocks from the crash site. And as the investigation was unfolding, agents initially indicated that other people might have helped him plant those.
But after looking at all that video, it turned out to just be curious passersby who had stopped to check out the coolers on a street corner, right? FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Rea, who's with the Counterterrorism Division at the agency, is urging those people to now call the FBI with whatever they saw. Rea had more information about Jabbar's motivation.
The FBI says investigators have pieced together his activities leading up to the attack, including that he posted several online videos proclaiming his support for ISIS and previewing the violence that was to come.
So it's been a couple days now. Bourbon Street is open again. What's life like there in New Orleans?
Just hyper heightened security like I have never seen before. And I've covered this city for something like 30 years now. The college football playoff game between Georgia and Notre Dame was postponed by a day, was played in the Sugar Bowl without incident yesterday. Officers are posted everywhere you look, including military police from the Louisiana National Guard.
Roads are blocked off around the Superdome, also in the French Quarter where Bourbon Street, like you say, is back open. When I first went out there after it opened, there was still water fresh on the street from where the crime scene had been cleaned up. And already makeshift memorials, long-stemmed yellow roses for the 14 victims, people adding to that throughout the day.
There seemed to be this determination not to let a terrorist sap the city's culture. Darnell Sims is a drummer with the One Way Brass Band, and he told me it was important just to bring the street music back.
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Chapter 3: Who is Mike Johnson and what challenges does he face?
Well, first of all, Johnson is coming into this new House with even tighter margins than we saw in the last couple of years when former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, for example, ran for his position. He could only lose two years ago a handful of Republicans to get that gavel in the 2023 election.
And he still had to go 15 rounds of ballots, days of intraparty fighting on the floor before he won that gavel.
So walk us through that process of how the House elects a new speaker. What should we be watching for?
Well, Johnson will need a simple majority of a 435-member House, so 218 votes. And Republicans just have 219 members, so not a lot of breathing room at all. particularly since Democrats are not expected to help Johnson or any other Republican get over the line. So we already know of one GOP member who says he will vote no on Johnson, and it's possible others could follow.
Who are those possible no's?
Well, we know Kentucky Republican Thomas Massey has been pretty vocal. He will vote against Johnson. So that could open the floodgates for other House Republicans who want to vote no on Johnson as well.
Some Republicans will use this time for attention in the media, or other potential spoilers may look at this as an opportunity to make a favorable deal with Johnson before they can get flipped to a yes. So they will hold a lot of leverage in this moment.
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Chapter 4: How tight is the vote for the new House Speaker?
Chapter 5: What is the current situation in the Golan Heights?
Also, Israel moved into a U.N.-monitored buffer zone when the government collapsed in neighboring Syria. Our correspondent visited the Golan Heights. How are residents describing what Israeli troops are doing? Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
Our long national nightmare is over. Beyonce has finally won the Grammy for Album of the Year. How and why did it take so long for Beyonce to win the top prize at Music's Biggest Night? We're talking about her big wins and breaking down the Grammys for Kendrick Lamar, Chapel Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter. Listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR.
Federal investigators have clarified their understanding. of what happened in New Orleans on New Year's morning.
Most notably, the FBI backed off of a vague statement that the driver of a pickup truck was not solely responsible for an attack on people on Bourbon Street. Now they confirm that, as they understand it now, Shamsuddin Jabbar, an Army veteran from Texas, acted alone.
NPR's Debbie Elliott is in New Orleans with this and other developments. Good morning, Debbie. Hi, good morning. So why did the FBI first suggest a broader conspiracy and then back off?
Well, another day of chasing down leads, and I think in particular a closer look at hundreds of hours of surveillance video. You know, it shows Jabbar placing two explosive devices concealed in coolers in the French Quarter just a few blocks from the crash site. And as the investigation was unfolding, agents initially indicated that other people might have helped him plant those.
But after looking at all that video, it turned out to just be curious passersby who had stopped to check out the coolers on a street corner, right? FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Rea, who's with the Counterterrorism Division at the agency, is urging those people to now call the FBI with whatever they saw. Rea had more information about Jabbar's motivation.
The FBI says investigators have pieced together his activities leading up to the attack, including that he posted several online videos proclaiming his support for ISIS and previewing the violence that was to come.
So it's been a couple days now. Bourbon Street is open again. What's life like there in New Orleans?
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Chapter 6: What are residents in New Orleans saying about security after the attack?
He wasn't the only one trying to spread the love. As the band was playing on bourbon, a man jogged down the street with a handmade flag that said love hoisted up on a fish pole.
So after a mass killing, mass violence like this, what are you hearing from people in New Orleans about how they're going to move forward?
Certainly people are shaken up, sadness, shock, and questions about why local officials haven't done more to make Bourbon Street less vulnerable to an attack like this. Kenzie Falk is a praline vendor who was pushing his cart along Canal. He says he's just trying to keep things going despite the uncertainty. As of right now, everything's at a standstill.
You know, everybody's like up in arms and like on their toes and trying to figure out what's next.
And what next are two more major national events, the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras here in New Orleans.
I'm PR's Debbie Elliott in New Orleans. Thank you, Debbie. You're welcome. A new Congress is to be sworn in today, and the first order of business in the House is to elect a speaker.
Republicans have an even narrower majority than in the last Congress, which means they have to be close to unanimous to choose a leader. Speaker Mike Johnson has the endorsement of President-elect Trump and also faces a challenge from some Republican holdouts.
Joining us now is NPR's congressional correspondent, Claudia Grisales. Hi, Claudia. Hey, Layla. All right. So Mike Johnson was elected speaker after his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, was ousted from the job during a chaotic time and several other candidates lost bids to replace him. What is Johnson facing this time around?
Well, potentially more chaos. House Republicans are taking control of the lower chamber for this second Congress in a row. And as we saw, the last couple of years brought us some good clues on how today could play out. And as you mentioned, job one for the House today is to elect a new speaker. And there will virtually be no House business until that gets done.
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Chapter 7: What are the implications of the upcoming Super Bowl and Mardi Gras?
So walk us through that process of how the House elects a new speaker. What should we be watching for?
Well, Johnson will need a simple majority of a 435-member House, so 218 votes. And Republicans just have 219 members, so not a lot of breathing room at all. particularly since Democrats are not expected to help Johnson or any other Republican get over the line. So we already know of one GOP member who says he will vote no on Johnson, and it's possible others could follow.
Who are those possible no's?
Well, we know Kentucky Republican Thomas Massey has been pretty vocal. He will vote against Johnson. So that could open the floodgates for other House Republicans who want to vote no on Johnson as well.
Some Republicans will use this time for attention in the media, or other potential spoilers may look at this as an opportunity to make a favorable deal with Johnson before they can get flipped to a yes. So they will hold a lot of leverage in this moment.
So what, if anything, does this moment tell us about the new Congress?
Well, it's clearly a test for this new membership, especially House Republicans, and whether they will face the same dysfunction, the same intraparty fighting that dominated the last Congress. And it's also a test of the influence Trump will exert over these members.
In his endorsement of Johnson, he noted that this should get done quickly so Republicans can also quickly get to the work on a very long to-do list.
NPR's Claudia Grisales. Thank you, Claudia. Thank you. In the Golan Heights in southwest Syria, residents say Israeli troops are raiding their homes and villages, and they ask if this is the start of a land grab.
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