I want to welcome everyone to the beat.

I am Ari Melver.

It is Halloween.

We have a little touch on that a little later.

But our top story begins with Mike Johnson's first full week

as speaker of the House.

After the Ascent So Swift, many in Washington

are still learning about him.

Let alone, of course, the rest of the nation

had never heard of him, which is just true.

And it's a point, though, that in its truth

became a funny kind of punchline this weekend

on Saturday at Live.

All right.

And your name is what?

Mike Johnson.

No one's going to forget that.

So how does you end up speaker?

No one knows.

No one knows.

There are clues, though, with reports

diving into who Johnson is, how he might lead

...