Mike Johnson wins the battle for House speaker | The Excerpt
On Saturday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: House Speaker Mike Johnson won back his job for another term Friday after a tight vote. Paste BN National Correspondent Trevor Hughes reports from New Orleans after this week's devastating terror attack. A New York judge upheld the felony conviction of President-elect Donald Trump Friday and set sentencing for Jan. 10, but said Trump would receive no prison or probation. Paste BN Personal Finance Reporter Daniel de Visé breaks down the surgeon general's advisory about alcohol and cancer. Boeing highlights quality improvements under a new production safety plan.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and today is Saturday, January 4th, 2025. This is The Excerpt. Today, House Speaker Mike Johnson has secured the speakership again, plus we head to New Orleans to get a sense of the last few days in a city after a terror attack, and what the surgeon general's advisory about alcohol and cancer means going forward.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson won back his job for another term yesterday after a tight finish. He now has the daunting task of trying to unify a fractured but potentially powerful group of Republican lawmakers anxious to implement President-elect Donald Trump's agenda upon his return to the White House later this month.
Mike Johnson:
I'm grateful for this nomination. I'm grateful for this election, for the confidence this chamber has placed in me. It is the great honor of my life to serve this body with all of you.
Taylor Wilson:
The final vote of 218 to 215 to 1, may reflect the Congress to come, one with high stakes where Republicans are about to hold all the levers of power in Washington, but with internal divisions constantly threatening to boil over and Trump's opinion ultimately rules the day. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.
In the wake of this week's terror attack, New Orleans is processing how to move forward. I spoke with Paste BN national correspondent, Trevor Hughes, who's been in the city this week. Trevor, hello sir. Thanks for hopping on this.
Trevor Hughes:
Yeah, glad to be here.
Taylor Wilson:
So Trevor, I just want to start with this. I mean, when did you arrive in New Orleans following this devastating attack and what's the scene been like there this week?
Trevor Hughes:
I mean, I got here relatively speaking, a few hours after the attack and it's just been terrible to see. I've been on Bourbon Street many times, as I'm sure many of us have. It is an incredibly well-known tourist destination and it's been really awful to see the sight of such tragedy that is normally so full of life and excitement. And obviously the party is frankly back going again pretty quickly here, but there still is a real lingering sense of grief, especially among the workers at the bars and restaurants on Bourbon Street.
Taylor Wilson:
Trevor, I want to hear a little bit more about who you've been speaking with, what the sense is from them. You mentioned the workers. I mean, what's this week been like for them? How are they approaching things? Are they reopening their businesses? I mean, what's next for them?
Trevor Hughes:
This is one of those situations where the bars and restaurants on Bourbon Street were closed for very, very few hours, really. The attack happened early Wednesday and everything was back open by Thursday midday. You have to remember that in New Orleans, this is a place where a lot of folks work in the service industry. They depend on those cash tips. They depend on the money that they bring in every single day to pay for rent. And so there is this very sad dichotomy where people have to go to work on a street where they have seen bodies. But they're back at work 24 or 36 hours later serving booze to tourists who are partying away.
Taylor Wilson:
Wow. So I know you also spoke with an artist, Trevor, who was out in the area building crosses after this tragedy, really powerful video and photo as well. What can you tell us about him and what brought him out there to do this?
Trevor Hughes:
He is an artist who has actually traveled to a number of places that have suffered this kind of tragedy. And it's his belief that communities need a place to put their grief for lack of a better term. And so in this case, he's building crosses and he's got a big canvas and he's having people decorate them and they're holding a vigil later this week. He was telling me that the people need an outlet for their grief and for some folks, having that specific place that they can come to and say, "This is the place where I put my grief. I lay the flowers, I light a candle."
Because Bourbon Street itself is not really a place that lends itself to memorials. This is a street where tourists were drinking away last night. I mean, I saw a very sad situation where someone had laid white lilies on the ground near where someone was killed and tourists were just walking past it, drinking away. Like I said, the dichotomy of the grief and good times rolling on is really palpable here.
Taylor Wilson:
Wow. So you know the Sugar Bowl football game went ahead, Trevor, but a day later than planned after this attack. We also know the Super Bowl is set to be played in New Orleans next month. Then there's of course Mardi Gras in early March. I mean, what's next for New Orleans when it comes to those events and just the city in general going forward?
Trevor Hughes:
I mean, obviously this is a huge focus and I was chatting with a police officer yesterday who was in the seat of an armored vehicle and he's like, "I expect to be glued to this seat for months," because the security levels here are dramatically sharper than they have been in years. There are police officers on every corner. There are police officers patrolling the streets. There are bright spotlights up on Bourbon Street. I mean, this is a place where people come to party and I think the authorities understand that they need to make tourists feel safe if they're going to come here and keep this economy humming.
I will say that I was speaking to some experts earlier and they were saying it's important for the community to keep the businesses running, but that folks need to be able to grieve and grief looks different in many cases in many ways. But they really felt like this was a time where folks should be given the space to grieve in whatever way they want to. But understanding that for many people who work in New Orleans, they got to go to work every single day.
Taylor Wilson:
Trevor Hughes is a national correspondent with Paste BN, joining us from Louisiana here in this tragic week. Thank you so much, Trevor.
Trevor Hughes:
Absolutely.
Taylor Wilson:
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will visit New Orleans on Monday to grieve with family members of victims and meet with officials on the ground.
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A New York judge upheld the felony conviction of President-elect Donald Trump yesterday and set sentencing for January 10th, but said Trump would receive no prison or probation. Judge Juan Merchan had agreed to Trump's earlier request to postpone sentencing until after the election, but he said there is no legal reason to stop it from happening before Trump takes office on January 20th.
Merchan said an unconditional discharge appears to be the most viable solution so that Trump could pursue his appeals. Under New York law, that means a sentence without incarceration, fine, or probation. Trump spokesperson, Stephen Cheung called Merchan's ruling a direct violation of the Supreme Court's ruling in July that former presidents are shielded from criminal charges for actions related to their official duties while in office.
Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment that was made to porn star, Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Daniels has alleged she and Trump had sex during a celebrity golf tournament in 2006, a claim Trump denies. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg contends that Trump's payment to Daniels via his lawyer, Michael Cohen was not an official act as president.
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America's top physician, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy yesterday issued an advisory calling for explicit warnings about cancer on alcohol bottles and cans. The advisory terms alcohol the third leading preventable cause of cancer in America after tobacco and obesity. I spoke with Paste BN personal finance reporter, Daniel de Visé for more. Howdy, Daniel.
Daniel de Visé:
Hey.
Taylor Wilson:
So what exactly did the surgeon general announce here?
Daniel de Visé:
On a Friday morning on a sleepy week, the surgeon general decreed that alcohol is a little more dangerous than most Americans think, and that ideally we would have new and more dire labels on beer cans and wine bottles that say that there's a specific possibility of getting cancer if you drink and especially if you drink to excess.
Taylor Wilson:
And how does this compare, Daniel, to some of what we've heard from researchers for years?
Daniel de Visé:
Well, I've written about this in the past. We get mixed messages and I guess nobody is to blame, but there were dozens and dozens of studies, especially back in the '80s and '90s, saying that moderate alcohol consumption was okay and that red wine was maybe some kind of miracle panacea. There was a big 60 Minutes episode a long time ago that said that. But more recently, over the last several years, more and more of the newish studies say that any amount of alcohol causes harm to the human body and increases your risk of cancer and other bad things. So mixed messages, and you can understand, especially older people, just not knowing what to make of it.
Taylor Wilson:
Right. Well, it strikes me as perhaps not the happiest day for the alcohol industry. What are you hearing from some folks from that world?
Daniel de Visé:
Well, the stocks have gone down for Anheuser-Busch, and many, many alcohol stocks are down. I talked to a couple wine store owners and they're small businesses and they want people to come and shop at their businesses. The one guy who runs a wine store in Chicago said, "I just hope that if you do decide you're going to drink wine, that you'll go to my wine store or some local small business to buy your wine." It's been tough for the liquor industry of late. During COVID, there was a big spike in liquor consumption and then it kind of fell off recently and inflation hasn't helped. Now there's talk of the next president bringing tariffs, which could even increase prices and could further erode alcohol sales next year.
Taylor Wilson:
So in terms of what's next here, Daniel, I mean, what still would need to happen for this label to actually end up on bottles?
Daniel de Visé:
Well, the labels that are on bottles now, I'm looking at one because I got one to look at it, date to 1988. I think the label actually appeared around 1990, and that was an order of Congress. And my understanding is it would take a fresh order of Congress to affect a change on the actual labeling. This is a recommendation from the surgeon general. It's not the law. Congress makes law, so Congress would have to make a new law.
Taylor Wilson:
All right, Daniel de Visé is a personal finance reporter with Paste BN. Thank you, sir.
Daniel de Visé:
Thank you.
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Taylor Wilson:
A new year for aviation means continued watchful eyes on Boeing, but the plane manufacturer says it's on track with its safety and quality improvement plan as 2025 begins. The storied manufacturer faced criticism for what many saw as slipping standards on its production lines in recent years. Boeing said it's working in a number of areas to improve safety and make its company culture more open for feedback from workers on the line, including increased confidentiality protections for employees who identify issues. Still, the Federal Aviation Administration's outgoing administrator, Mike Whitaker said his agency is committed to ongoing enhanced oversight of Boeing to ensure the manufacturer continues to improve.
Meanwhile, in other aviation news, the Department of Transportation has imposed a $2 million penalty on JetBlue Airways for operating multiple chronically delayed flights. It marks the department's first ever enforcement action against an airline for unrealistic scheduling. You can read more about that with a link in today's show notes. And today is Perihelion Day when the Earth is closest to the sun.
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Five years ago this month, the COVID-19 virus started ravaging populations changing life in America and around the world. In Quinter, Kansas, a small rural town of about 1,000 people, and in surrounding Gove County, it devastated the population killing 1 in 132. That made Gove the deadliest county in the US in December of 2020. 5 years on, how have residents recovered or have they? Paste BN national correspondent, Trevor Hughes revisits Quinter and joins my colleague, Dana Taylor in sharing the lasting impacts in a place that suffered such huge losses. You'll find that episode right here on this feed tomorrow.
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Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your pods, and as always, if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back Monday with more of The Excerpt from Paste BN.