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FBI Investigating Attack On New Orleans Crowd As Act Of Terrorism; At Least 10 Dead In New Orleans After Truck Slams Into Crowd; Federal Law Enforcement Official: Suspect In Crowd Attack Is Dead; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired January 01, 2025 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[10:00:55]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning to you. You are live in the CNN newsroom. I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. Jim Acosta has the morning off. Our breaking news coverage of the mass casualty incident in New Orleans continues this hour. The FBI is now looking into the attack on a crowd on Bourbon Street early this morning as an act of terrorism. Police say a man intentionally drove a pickup truck into that crowd, killing at least 10 people and injuring at least 35. According to the New Orleans police chief, the driver was hell-bent on causing carnage and a federal law enforcement official says that suspect is dead. A new video captured on Earth Cam shows the moment multiple officers can be seen running in response to the incident.

The officers can be seen standing outside of Crazy Corner on Bourbon Street when they appear to receive this call about the vehicle that plowed into the crowd. You can see this on your screen. Look at them running. They get that call. They are running. This is what they have been training for, something like this. Take a listen to the emergency radio call from first responders.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Communications to Engine 29 and all units headed towards Canal and Bourbon. We removed the fireground tourists. You're responding to a mass casualty incident. A vehicle ran through a crowd of people. There's multiple injuries, multiple casualties. They need you at Canal and Bourbon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CNN's Ryan Young and Paula Reid are following the story for us. Paula, do you first, I just spoke to a law enforcement source who said, look, they have the license plate of this suspect, right? They're running down to see if the suspect had any association -- associates who might have been involved with this what more can you tell us about the suspect?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so here we know, of course, the FBI is the lead agency. They are now investigating this as an act of terrorism. There was a little confusion about that earlier today in the briefings about whether this was being viewed as potential terrorism. Now the FBI confidently saying in a statement released a short time ago that they are investigating this as an act of terrorism. I want to read that statement.

"This morning, an individual drove a car into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing a number of people and injuring dozens of others. The subject then engaged with local law enforcement and is now deceased." And as I said, "the FBI is the lead investigative agency, and they are working with their partners to investigate this an as an act of terrorism.:

Now, as they said here, the suspect is dead, but a law enforcement official said they believe that this individual acted intentionally and they continue to investigate a motive here. Attorney General Merrick Garland has been briefed on this situation. I want to go back to an interview, that great interview that you did a short time ago, Pamela, with Senator Cassidy there. There, he suggested that they may know who, quote, these people are because they have a license plate. You smartly followed up and asked if that meant that there were additional suspects. The guidance that I am getting from my sources is that there was only one suspect at the scene. That suspect is now deceased. But they are looking into whether anyone else was involved in this plot. And I'm told we may get more information or more clarity on that question at briefings coming up.

BROWN: Well, thank you for that, Paula. And also, you know, terrorism could be domestic terrorism or international terrorism, right? Meaning someone who has an international nexus. It's still too early to know where this might fall, right?

REID: Yes, that's exactly right. I mean, the senator suggested someone could have come from abroad to carry out this plot. But certainly people within our borders, people who are born and raised here, can also engage in acts of terrorism where it gets a little complicated, though, or how cases are charged. And that's why there is some confusion around domestic terrorism. We don't have a domestic terrorism statute in this country that you can be charged with instead. Instead, people who carry out alleged acts of terrorism in this country are usually charged with specific crimes, whatever happened as a result of their alleged actions. So I think that's some of the confusion here.

It is a lot easier to charge anyone who is acting on behalf of a foreign entity or comes from a foreign country or anything like that with terrorism because the way our laws are written. They are written to give American citizens the most protection possible when it comes to the First Amendment. This is very controversial, the idea of terrorism. They're investigating this as terrorism. And since the suspect is dead, this individual, they don't really have to deal with the specifics of any federal charges. But as I said, it has been indicated to me they are looking at whether anyone else may have been involved in this.

[10:05:21]

BROWN: All right, thank you for that, Paula. I know you're going to continue to work your sources, Ryan, to bring you in. We know officers are still combing through the crime scene, including investigating possible explosives at that site. What more can you tell us about what happened here?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the pain here all too real, especially if you start searching the Internet and talking to sources. They say it's just carnage out there on the streets. And in several different videos that we cannot show you can see bodies just strewn throughout the street. Now we can show you the video that we've blurred. So we'll show that now.

We've blurred this video because obviously the carnage is just unspeakable. But we know around right after 3:00 o'clock that F150 was used to weave around barricades and then start plowing into people. We know 10 people are dead, more than 30 injured. Level one trauma centers were used. At some point, that suspect then started exchanging or started shooting at officers. We know two officers were shot. They are in stable condition. The big question here, of course, is why?

And then were officers able to follow him, open fire? Those are the parts that we've been trying to figure out for quite some time. But take a listen to this eyewitness. Talk about the moments early on during this horrific tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dude came through with a truck and hit by four people and shot by four people. Ate up to about eight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said you saw him got out and shoot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nah, he was in a car. He ain't get out. He already hit him. (END VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG: Yes, Pamela, if that wasn't enough that he was using this large F150 as a weapon, then he used a gun. And then, of course, officers finding the IEDs. There have been reports that people were trying to get back to their hotel and couldn't. We know that blocks and blocks have been cordoned off. And of course, this investigation, not only do you have crime scene investigators trying to collect evidence, but then you have the morgue out there trying to -- medical examiner out there trying to collect some of the human remains that have been left behind.

As they do this investigation, they're taking shots digitally to put this whole crime scene together. But of course, as you try to put these pieces together, you want to figure out why and what the motive was. Those so far have not been answered.

But let's not forget it's seven hours later. We know there's a news conference in the next hour, so hopefully we'll get some more information. But at this point, just a tragedy, people asking so many questions. And the Sugar bowl is tonight. We know that's going to move forward, but obviously all the security concerns are now put into extra space. When you think about what has to be done to keep all those fans safe tonight as well.

BROWN: Certainly. Ryan Young and Paula Reid, thank you.

Joining us now is someone who witnessed this horrific event firsthand, Jimmy Cothran. He has lived in New Orleans for 15 years. Jimmy, first off, I'm sorry what you have been through. I am sure you were still processing this. Tell us what you saw.

JIMMY COTHRAN, EYEWITNESS: About 3:05, 3:10 this morning, me and my friend were heading from Lower Bourbon towards Canal. We seen up towards Krystal Burger and all that there was just a lot going on. And so we ducked off into a nightclub real quick and within two minutes of walking in, five, four or five girls come running in, push past security, and hide under tables. Me and my friend living here kind of knowing what's what and things that have been on the news. We didn't take any chances. We ran upstairs to the balcony area that we knew was there. And when we got up there, it wasn't anyone chasing anybody. It was just unimaginable casualty.

I mean just the disfigurement and the bodies strong, something you can't unsee, you'll never forget. Directly at our feet was definitely a mother twisted up, obviously deceased.

We counted around eight bodies very quickly right in our area. One gentleman, crushed, had tire tracks across his back. Once they rolled him over, he had tire tracks on his front, was completely crushed. Another girl, young, small girl, was dancing when we're coming up the street and she was just completely flat in the middle, dead center, middle. Another woman just brutally run over, but still agonizing. I'm certified in CPR and first responder training. And they wouldn't let us help. They locked us all inside, which is understandable, but nobody else was helping, so that was even tougher. But just the fact that these people are somebody's people and they're not going to be there this morning, it's rough.

[10:10:36]

BROWN: I'm just speechless. What you just described, I'm speechless. I am sorry that you had to see that. And it sounds like some of the people you saw after this happened, you had seen before. Dancing, having fun, enjoying New Year's. And then you saw them.

COTHRAN: Yes, like I was the designated driver, so I've seen everything I seen. I remembered, and were just up and down. My friend had never experienced New Year's on Bourbon Street, even though he's lived here. And I thought that was kind of crazy. So I was like, well, let's go do that. And this is the memory. But, I mean, we're alive.

BROWN: You're alive. You said one seemed to be a mom. And there, you said that there was a -- tell us, how do you know that?

COTHRAN: I mean, she was an older Hispanic woman, probably in her mid- 30s. She had a wedding ring on her finger. We were that close. BROWN: I just didn't know if there were kids or, you know, anything,

any kids around at that time? It was three in the morning.

COTHRAN: No. I mean, no small children.

BROWN: Okay.

COTHRAN: No small children. I mean, none in our area.

BROWN: Right. Did you see, when you were looking down from the balcony, did you see that, the truck? Did you see the suspect?

COTHRAN: Oh, he had been gone. That's what, that's what I was telling other news sources. Like, we have these hydraulic steel barriers from past events. Last Mardi Gras, this happened to an extent. Maybe not terrorism, but still people getting hit in mass population with vehicles. Those barricades were not on, period.

They had the flimsy orange ones that you could just push over with your finger. We actually thought it was kind of odd because usually when you get to Bourbon Street, you can turn your back to Canal and not worry about anything. You can just walk the street, especially on New Year's. And there were still vehicles coming after 8:00 p.m. and then, I mean, the fact that they never raised them. That's how the. That's how this guy was able to get down Bourbon Street so quickly and cause so much damage.

Because there's other barricades past the Canal and Bourbon intersection. There's more like every two, three blocks. So what was 10 or 15 dead and 30 wounded. Could have only been maybe 5 and 15. I mean, who can say? But it definitely would have been minimalized because this truck cannot go around those barricades. Everything in New Orleans, in the French Quarter, has a balcony.

All the balconies have poles, several steel posts, and there's no going around anything. If that barricade's up, that's a wrap. That's your end.

BROWN: So just to be clear, you're saying that they were just flimsy? The flimsy orange barricades that weren't up, they weren't the same barricades there as elsewhere?

COTHRAN: No, they were. The metal ones were absolutely not engaged.

BROWN: Wow. And that struck you at the time, right? Because there was that 2017 incident with Mardi Gras where a drunk driver drove through. And so from what my understanding is, they increased security measures in that area because of what happened there. But what you're saying is that you didn't see the security that should have been there to protect the revelers.

COTHRAN: Yes, were walking right across it. Like, as you walk down Bourbon, you cross, like, five of them. And then even when you turn off the side streets of Bourbon, there's more. Like, there's -- the precautions are there, and everything's implicated. You just have to use it. BROWN: Do you think that's why he didn't because Bourbon -- oh, go

ahead. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt.

COTHRAN: I'm sorry, but. And the other focus is when we got there, you usually can park on Canal if you're early enough. Every law enforcement officer was on Canal. Like, they had every parking spot on Canal. We ended up parking on the side of Royal, which, no big deal, but as we walked into the French Quarter, there was another officer that I recognized. So I was talking with her, and I asked her, I said, why is everybody on Canal and nobody's in the Quarter? And she's like, show. And, you know, at that time, it's probably 9:00 p.m. so I'm not thinking anything of it. But I'm like, yes, if you're driving down here and you don't live here, you'd really think we have a ton of police officers? And she's like, oh, this is probably half of what we had last year.

[10:15:21]

BROWN: Yes, Jimmy. I am sorry for you that you had to see this. It is horrific. And, you know, as you said, you're alive, but now you have to live with this. And we just appreciate you coming on to detail what you saw at the early morning hours around 3:00 a.m. when this F150, which can weigh 4,000 to 6,000 pounds, you know, just drove right into those revelers that you saw partying and then you saw dead just moments later. Jimmy, go ahead.

COTHRAN: Yes, like the people that -- the people that were locked in the club with us, like the girls that ran, they said that when they got out of his way, he was already at like 60 miles an hour. And that's only 100 yards from Canal. So in 100 yards he was able to get that kind of speed. I mean, these bodies, I don't want to go into too much detail. but when I tell you mangle, I mean, only a movie script could give you the images in my head.

BROWN: All you have to know is you had a truck and that street was packed with people, and you don't want to know. We don't want to have to think about what that looked like. And unfortunately, Jimmy, you did have to see that. And we are sorry. But thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us, Jimmy. We'll be right back.

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[10:20:47]

BROWN: Back to the breaking news this morning. The ATF is now on the scene of a deadly attack on a crowd on Bourbon Street that happened just hours ago in New Orleans. Investigators had been looking into possible improvised explosive devices after a man rammed a truck that weighs 4,000 to 6,000 pounds into a crowd. We just spoke to this eyewitness who said these -- he was in a bar. He had been right there. These women came running in from the street and said that truck was going around 60 miles per hour according to those -- those women who were there. Just imagine that, this street packed with people enjoying the New Year's and then this happens. It's beyond comprehension. Ten people died, dozens are injured. The FBI is investigating this as an act of terrorism. Let's bring in Democratic Congressman Troy Carter. He represents New

Orleans and he's a member of the House Homeland Security Committee. Congressman, thank you for being here and I'm sorry for what has happened in your city. Have you been getting briefings on what happened here? Is there any information you can share with us about the suspect and whether there are accomplices?

REP. TROY CARTER, (D) LOUISIANA: Thank you very much for giving this the coverage that it deserves. Yes, we've been in constant communication with the White House and literally just hung up the phone with Secretary Mayorkas of Homeland Security. We are working around the clock with local, state, and federal officials to gather as much information as timely as possible to ascertain all the facts.

BROWN: What do we know, though, about the suspect, the driver here? Do we know if the truck was rented or did it belong to the suspect? Do you have any concrete information at this hour as we're trying to process this?

CARTER: The information that's available that we can share at this time is that it appears to have been a local individual, someone with a Texas license plate, but apparently living somewhere in the metropolitan area. They appear to be a lone actor at this point. Yet we are being very cautious to make sure that we are exploring and investigating every point to make sure that the villain that has been taken down by police officers, that he was in fact, alone in his actions and securing the area to make sure that any other bombs or information or threats have been detonated.

You may have seen bombs that have gone off in other parts of the quarter. Those were detonated by law enforcement. There's been no other indication that there are other bombs at this point but we are desperately looking to make sure that all resources are used.

BROWN: So just to recap for our viewers, the information coming in from you, you've been briefed by the officials investigating this that this appears to be done by a local. There was a Texas license plate on that truck but he lived there. He lived there locally. And that it appears at these early stages that he acted alone. But, of course, that is still under investigation.

Can you tell us anything more about how long he had lived in New Orleans and whether that truck actually belonged to or was it a rental since it had that Texas license plate?

CARTER: We don't know any of that information at this time. We know that it's a Texas license plate. We don't know very much more about the suspect other than he has been taken down by law enforcement and that there's massive investigations going on as we speak. We know now that this was, in fact, a terrorist act. Secretary Mayorkas has confirmed that in our conversation. And we would tell the visitors and residents to please stay away from the French Quarter, remain vigilant, stay safe. This is not a time to come out and look and see what's going on.

Please stay in your hotels. Stay in your homes. The least amount of traffic anywhere downtown the better at this time.

BROWN: Do we know anything about the age or anything else about the suspect's identity? I know you don't want to say a name right now. But can you give us any more details in terms of age, background, that kind of thing?

[10:25:06]

CARTER: Not that's available at this time, nothing that we can talk about. There's an active investigation going on into that.

BROWN: I understand. And then in terms of terrorism, as we know, the FBI is investigating this as an act of terrorism. Do you know if the focus is more on domestic terrorism or does it appear that this could be international terrorism where the suspect could have an international nexus?

CARTER: We're not certain about that either. Of course, we're making sure that we explore all the avenues. We're treating it with the highest level of alarm, the highest level of investigation, and some of that information is privy at this point, to make sure that we're exploring and determining if there are potential others that we should be aware of. Rest assured in this, that every possible resource of the federal, state, and local authorities are being used to secure the area and protect the residents and visitors of New Orleans.

BROWN: So I hear you say that, but we -- and I have no doubt that is happening now, that the security posture, as you said, is at its highest right now. We just spoke to an eyewitness who was there when this horrific mass casualty event happened. And he said that there were just flimsy barriers that anyone can just kind of drive over at that entrance where this happened and I want to get your reaction to that. He said that there were police that were on Canal, but not where this was taking place, and that the barriers were flimsy there, but they were not elsewhere. They were barriers that could have prevented a truck, a big truck from coming through. What is your reaction to that? Do you think more about the lack of security potentially here?

CARTER: I will tell you that New Orleans is a city renowned for festivals and visitors. Super Bowl, Sugar Bowls, Mardi Gras. No one does security for these kinds of events better than law enforcement in our area. I cannot speak to the specifics of what your guest shared with you, but I will tell you this, that during Sugar Bowl New Year's Eve, in any heightened area for tourism in New Orleans, we have every area covered. We have steel bollards that at the entry points of Bourbon Street on both ends, on Royal Street, other points of entry. I'm not -- this is the first I've heard that they were not employed. As we speak, that's being looked into. We're watching what you're sharing with us as well.

But I will tell you that this is not our first rodeo and we are well equipped to provide resources with the metropolitan area, with NOPD, with the sheriffs from the surrounding areas. And now certainly the FBI is on the ground in force. If those ballots were not up, someone will have to answer for that. This is the first I'm hearing of it, but I can tell you that there is a very sophisticated system of security in and around the French Quarter, particularly in Bourbon Street, much like you see on military installations where these metal bollards literally come up from the ground to prevent a vehicle from gaining enough speed to cause the kind of mass damage that we saw this morning. We'll have to investigate to determine if in fact they were not up and why.

BROWN: Congressman Troy Carter, please keep us posted as you get new information. Thank you.

CARTER: Thank you.

BROWN: So just to recap what we heard there from the Congressman for our viewers just now tuning in, in terms of the suspect, he said that it this appears to be a local. Someone who lived there, was driving a truck with Texas license plates. And that right now it seems early on in this investigation and, of course, this could change. But it seems as though this person was acting alone. We are continuing to follow breaking news out of New Orleans. That deadly attack on Bourbon Street as revelers were out enjoying the New Year, celebrating, and now this. It is now being investigated as an act of terrorism.

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