NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-03-2025 1AM EST

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

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Okay, so does this sound like you? You love NPR's podcasts, you wish you could get more of all your favorite shows, and you want to support NPR's mission to create a more informed public. If all that sounds appealing, then it is time to sign up for the NPR Plus bundle. Learn more at plus.npr.org. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. President Joe Biden says the man who rammed a truck into New Year's revelers in New Orleans killing 14 people acted alone. And as yet, investigators have found no links between that attack and the Cybertruck explosion

hours later in Las Vegas. As NPR's Tamara Keith reports, Biden convened his Homeland Security team for an update. Investigators initially thought that Shamshoudine Jabbar had help in executing the attack because they found improvised explosive devices in coolers elsewhere in the French Quarter. Now President Biden confirms Jabbar had a remote detonator in the vehicle he used to target pedestrians. We have no information that anyone else is involved in the attack. They've established that the attacker

was the same person who planted the explosives in those ice coolers in two nearby locations. Biden said he asked his team to accelerate their investigations to try to get answers to remaining questions, and he promised to provide updates when he knows more. Tamar Keith NPR News, the White House. Authorities have identified the man killed

in the cyber truck outside of a Trump hotel in Las Vegas as an active duty U.S. Army Special Operations soldier. As NPR's Frank Langford reports, Las Vegas police say the man shot himself in the head just before the truck exploded. Authorities identified the man as Master Sergeant Matthew Livelsberger, age 37, who was on approved leave. Livelsberger lived in Colorado Springs and had served five combat deployments to Afghanistan. The FBI says it's following leads around the world

to determine a motive. Police note that the Las Vegas bombing shares similarities with the New Year's Day truck attack in New Orleans. Both perpetrators rented their vehicles using the same app. Both served in the U.S. military and what was formerly known as Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Though police emphasized there's no record the men served in the same unit or same years, authorities say they don't know if the attacks are connected but are continuing to investigate.

Frank Langford, NPR News. Two people were killed when a small plane crashed into a warehouse near an airport in Fullerton, California on Thursday. Officials say the single engine plane had just taken off when it crashed through the warehouse's roof. Fullerton Fire Department Sergeant Ryan O'Neill says at least 18 people were injured in that accident. It was a commercial building that the plane crashed into. There were people working at the time. There was an active fire when the Fullerton Police Department and Fire Department arrived on scene.

Officials say it's not yet clear whether the two people who died were on the plane or in the warehouse. A new caravan of migrants has begun to walk north toward the US border. They began their journey from the city of Tapachula in Mexico near the border with Guatemala. Most of the migrants are from Venezuela. They say they're tired of being blocked from crossing Mexico by the government. The migrants have not said just directly where they're headed. You're listening to NPR News.

Serious new security forces used tanks on Thursday in the city of Homes to search for militia members and former soldiers who remain loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad. More than 100 people have been detained so far. The forces searched alleyways and entered homes and seized weapons. A government official said they'd received reports of members of former militias terrorizing the city's residents. President Biden has awarded the presidential citizens medal to leaders of the congressional committee that investigated the January 6th, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. MPR's Claudia Grisales reports that Mississippi Democrat

Benny Thompson and former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney were among a larger group of honorees. President Biden thanked families and friends in attendance at the White House and told the honorees gathered in the East Room that the Presidential Citizens Medal was among the country's highest honors. You're all incredible, incredible. You're activists who turned pain into purpose. Former January 6th Committee Chairman, Benny Thompson, and the panel's former Vice Chair, Republican Liz Cheney, were among 20 recipients of the award for their contributions to causes

Biden championed. Both were greeted with standing ovations as they received their awards. Claudia Gonzalez, NPR News, The White House. Wayne Osmond, who is one of the founding members of the family group known as the Osmonds, has died. His brother says he died in a Salt Lake City hospital after he suffered a massive stroke. Wayne Osmond was 73 years old. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.

The Indicator is a podcast where daily economic news is about what matters to you. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.