By Alexandra Banner, CNN

(CNN) — Bitterly cold air is sweeping over much of the central and eastern US, including the Gulf Coast states. Temperatures by Saturday will be frigid for millions in what is shaping up to be the coldest of the winter so far.

Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

1. New Orleans attack

At least 14 people were killed in New Orleans early on New Year’s Day after a driver intentionally plowed into a crowd on Bourbon Street. Authorities are investigating the attack in the French Quarter as an act of terrorism. The FBI identified the suspect as a 42-year-old Texas man and US Army veteran who expressed intentions to join ISIS. He had an ISIS flag and improvised explosive devices in his vehicle, and made a series of videos before the rampage in which he said he joined the terrorist group. Two officers were wounded in a shootout that killed the suspect. The FBI said it doesn’t think the driver was “solely responsible.”

2. Cybertruck explosion

In a separate New Year’s Day incident, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded at the entrance of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. Police said the driver was killed and seven others nearby were injured when a combination of fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel in the bed of the vehicle were detonated by a device controlled by the driver. The FBI says it is working to determine whether the incident was a terrorist act. The Cybertruck was rented on Turo, which operates an online platform for car owners to lease their vehicles. It is the same platform used to obtain the truck involved in the New Orleans attack earlier Wednesday. Authorities are investigating possible links between the two incidents.

3. Fireworks chaos

A fireworks blast in a Honolulu-area neighborhood on New Year’s Eve killed at least three people and injured 20 others, authorities said. The accident occurred just before midnight outside a home near Honolulu’s international airport and a joint US Air Force and Navy base. “This incident is a painful reminder of the danger of illegal fireworks, which put lives at risk, drain our first responder resources and disrupt our communities,” Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said. Separately, five people were killed in Germany on Wednesday following a spate of incidents involving fireworks. In some of those incidents, firefighters and other emergency services personnel were targeted by the fireworks, German authorities said.

4. Puerto Rico power outage

Power has been restored to nearly all of Puerto Rico after a massive outage on New Year’s Eve left much of the island in the dark. About 1.4 million users, or at least 98% of the total, had service Wednesday, according to LUMA Energy, the company responsible for power lines and transmission towers on the island. The cause of the blackout is still under investigation. The outage is just the latest time that Puerto Rico’s power system has faltered on a mass scale. In 2017, Hurricane Maria left hundreds of thousands of people without power for months. Last year, about half of all electric customers on the island were at one point without power in the aftermath of Hurricane Ernesto.

5. Debt ceiling

The debt ceiling was reinstated today, though Congress has several months to address it before the nation could default on its obligations. That figure stood at just under $36.2 trillion earlier in the week. President-elect Donald Trump is demanding that GOP lawmakers address the debt limit before he takes office on January 20. Around that time, the Treasury Department will need to start taking so-called extraordinary measures to prevent a default. The Treasury would have to decide what bills to pay — including Social Security benefits and federal workers’ salaries — based on the revenue it receives daily. A default could also roil the global economy and stock markets.

HAPPENING LATER

Sugar Bowl today at 4 p.m. ET
The annual college football game was postponed in wake of the fatal New Year’s attack in New Orleans and will now kick off today. The attack happened less than a mile from Ceasar’s Superdome, where the Sugar Bowl will be held. The University of Georgia and the University of Notre Dame square off at 4 p.m., with the winner advancing to the College Football Playoff semifinals.

BREAKFAST BROWSE

25 travel destinations for 2025
Whether you’re interested in an overseas adventure or a road trip, CNN Travel has the top places to add to your vacation list for the new year.

The world’s most punctual airlines
Speaking of vacation planning: if you’ve ever had your trip ruined by horrible delays, check out this list of airlines and airports with the best on-time records for 2024.

Thinking about trying a Dry January?
Perhaps you imbibed a bit too much over the holidays or just want to start a healthy routine. Here are tips to make your Dry January a success.

Mind-bending images through AI
Bianca Tse’s photographs could not exist in real life, but the image maker says they capture a distinct Hong Kong “flavor.”

Gypsy Rose Blanchard gives birth to her first baby
Blanchard, who became infamous due to her role in killing her abusive mother, gave birth to her first child, her boyfriend confirmed in a photo post.

TODAY’S NUMBER

21
That’s how many states increased their minimum wage today, with increases ranging from 18 cents to $1.75. Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage continues to sit at $7.25 an hour — a rate that hasn’t budged since 2009.

TODAY’S QUOTE

“2025 will be a better year for meteor observers.”?

— Bill Cooke, the lead for NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office, saying there will be ample opportunities to see meteor showers this year. Here are the dates of 2025’s most anticipated celestial sightings.

TODAY’S WEATHER

AND FINALLY …

Why are people so obsessed with ‘Bluey’?
Actress Melanie Zanetti, who plays the mom on the hit show “Bluey,” speaks to CNN about how she landed the role and why the show is so popular.

UPDATE: An earlier version of this story included the New Orleans attacker in the number of people killed. At least 14 people were killed. The attacker is also dead.

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