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Biden Says, Officials Eyeing Any Links in Trump Hotel Blast, Truck Attack; Dramatic New Video Shows Tesla Cybertruck Blows Up at Trump Hotel; Deaths in New Orleans Terror Attack Rises to 15, Dozens Injured; FBI: Suspect Had ISIS Flag, Plus Weapons, Potential IED in Truck; Biden Addresses New Orleans Terror Attack, 15 Killed, 35 Injured. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired January 01, 2025 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Good evening. I'm Brianna Keilar, and welcome to a special edition of Newsroom. We are following several breaking stories at this hour. President Biden saying that officials are now investigating whether there is a link between the deadly terror attack in New Orleans and the Tesla Cybertruck explosion that happened outside of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
This is some new video of that explosion, you see it there outside the Trump Hotel, the driver of that vehicle was killed, seven others were injured, and we now know that Cybertruck was rented in Colorado, the blast in Vegas happening just hours after a man plowed a truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 15 people injuring 35.
What you were looking at is new video here now from that from just moments before the deadly attack. And I want to warn you that this is graphic because you can see the white pickup truck driving northwest on Canal Street at 3:16 A.M., and there you see it there veer it drives around a law enforcement vehicle before turning there onto Bourbon Street. It rapidly accelerated into that crowd of people who are celebrating you the New Year.
And people say after plowing through that crowd, he crashed the vehicle, then got into a shootout with police. In this new video, you can see chaos. You can actually hear gunfire in a video that we have now. Officials saying that they found some writing from the suspect that supports the FBI's view that the massacre was inspired by ISIS.
Omar Jimenez is live for us tonight in New Orleans. Kyung Lah is going to be joining us eventually. We also have Veronica Miracle covering the Las Vegas explosion.
First to you, Omar. What is the latest from officials at this hour?
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, for starters, we do expect the FBI to brief members of Congress tomorrow, according to a congressional aide. But there is a lot that we know from the FBI so far at this point. For starters, they found an ISIS flag in this vehicle along with weapons and a potential IED, along with a number of potential IEDs in and around that vehicle in the French Quarter, which is just behind me here in New Orleans. So, we know that on that front.
We also heard from President Biden who said that this suspect, Samshuddin Jabbar, was a former member of the military, but also that he posted videos on social media indicating he was inspired. This is a U.S. citizen from Texas, and it's why authorities in the Houston area right now are making preparations to search a home they believe is connected to the suspect. But there are a lot of steps are going through trying to even clear the neighborhood likely for safety reasons.
But while that investigative process goes on, there were also a lot of questions here on the ground about why barriers that were installed years ago to try and prevent this type of attack from happening were not used the early morning of this attack. And you showed some of that surveillance video a little bit earlier of a white truck coming up and sort of veering around law enforcement while police gave us insight into why that dynamic was even happening in the first place. For starters, those barriers were under repair ahead of the Super Bowl. It's expected to be here next month.
So, as a result, as a replacement, they put law enforcement vehicles in some of those entryways, along with barriers and some other aspects that But of course, as we see on that video, and as we learned from law enforcement, that driver went around those law enforcement vehicles and then eventually plowed into those people, which, as we know, has killed at least 15 in just the early hours of 2025 just past 3:00 A.M.
And I was talking to a shop owner who is right on Bourbon Street, and he told me that it was just as busy at 3:00 A.M., as it was at midnight in his turns, but, of course, we know people have died in this case, many others injured again, and just the opening moments of 2025.
KEILAR: Yes, horrific. Omar, thank you.
Let's go to Veronica now. She's been following news of this explosion in Las Vegas since it happened. Veronica, what's the latest on that investigation?
VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, tonight we are learning from our John Miller that, according to multiple law enforcement officers, this person who died in this attack, the driver of the Cybertruck, has a military background.
[22:05:05]
Now, authorities say they do know the name of this driver, but they are not releasing this person's identity until they notify the next of kin. But they did say that this person rented the Cybertruck in Colorado via Turo, drove the Cybertruck down to Las Vegas and was in Vegas for about an hour before it pulled in front of Trump Tower in the valet area when that explosion happened.
We were able to see video that they released that shows the explosives that were contained inside right there. You can see the Tesla bed, the Cybertruck bed, and some of those explosives included fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel, and all of that was connected to a detonation device that was controlled by the driver.
Now, what's incredible that the sheriff pointed out is that the explosion was really contained to the Cybertruck because of the way that the Cybertruck is built. Apparently, the explosion went upwards, not outward, and so none of the glass at the Trump Tower was broken. Seven people were injured with minor injuries, but all of them are okay and they have been released from the hospital.
Now, Las Vegas Police believe this was an isolated incident. They are not willing to say at this point that it is connected to the New Orleans incident, but they are investigating. And it is unusual that both drivers did use the Turo app to rent those cars. So, obviously, this is part of the investigation.
We did really receive a statement from Turo tonight that says they're cooperating. They also said that neither of the drivers had a criminal background that would alert them at the security threat. Brianna?
KEILAR: Yes, lots of questions here. Veronica, thank you for that.
With us now, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, we have former Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Juliette Kayyem and former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis with us.
Andy, you have President Biden confirming tonight officials are investigating whether there's a link between these two attacks. So, we've talked about some of the similarities. What are the things you're looking at that could point in that direction?
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, so far, Brianna, we have two not necessarily relevant similarities, right? We know they both went to the same rental car agency, essentially this online service that facilitates private citizens leasing their own or renting their own cars to people. They both use that same service. And we know that they are both -- they both have military backgrounds. But, again, these are things that could easily have been coincidence.
That's not to say that these two events are not related. They wouldn't be investigating that very question if they thought it was something that wasn't possible. And if it turns out, and, again, this is a big if, because we don't know that at this point, but if it turns out that these two individuals knew each other, then we have a very significant issue on our hands here. That points to a conspiracy, coordinated effort that spans a large area, right, two very different states. We know the Las Vegas attacker started in Colorado, drove to Las Vegas, and detonated that truck there, whereas the other, the New Orleans attacker started in Houston and ended up, of course, in New Orleans to commit his attack.
So, connecting these two would be highly significant, but we are not quite on the verge of doing that at this point. We need a lot more detail to figure out if there are actually any interactions between these two people. Law enforcement has many resources, intelligence resources, law enforcement resources at their disposal that they can push against to see if there are any indicators, that I'm sure they're doing exactly that tonight.
KEILAR: Yes. And, Juliette, according to our John Miller, both the alleged Vegas perpetrator here and this New Orleans suspect, as Andy mentioned, had military backgrounds, so they both appear to be veterans. Both electric vehicles, both rented on Turo, as Andy also noted there, explosive devices in both, I think we should note that. Although the suspect in New Orleans was not able to detonate them before police took him out. There's also potentially some differences here. So, where does that lead investigators as they're looking for further concrete links?
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. I think the connections that you and Andy describe as well as just the fact they're on the same day, not many hours apart would lead any investigator and any federal entity to determine whether there were linkages. Was there some coordination around timing and methods and means, but there are also a lot of differences. For one, the second attack in Las Vegas, you combine Elon Musk and Donald Trump, and the Trump Tower, that suggests someone who had a political focus against them or wanted to make a statement about one or both of them, that's just -- that's not a coincidence, Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
[22:10:11]
And that terrorism towards them, right, and the violence that was perpetrated, presumably because of them is a form of terror, of course, and we've seen the future of -- the former and future president, you know, also be the victim of two assassination attempts. So, that seems different as compared to what -- in New Orleans, which is very similar to what happened in Europe, right, in France and Germany and elsewhere, where a car is simply used to mow down a lot of people, in this instance, and also utilization of a gun and other things where you have an individual or a number of individuals who are motivated by terrorism, but maybe also in this case by other things. And that's what we will determine and what will be learned. Why is this relevant is it's a very different threat environment if this was coordinated for the nation. It just is. But if there are explanations for both that are limited to both of them, it does make the American public feel differently about the threat environment.
KEILAR: It certainly does. Ed, it's possible that law enforcement is sitting, is poised to find out a lot of information because they are waiting on federal authorization to search a Houston home that they believe is connected to the New Orleans suspect. And authorities are saying they're hours and hours away from being able to enter that home. What are they looking for? How quickly do they need to get in there?
ED DAVIS, BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER DURING MARATHON BOMBING AND MANHUNT: Hi, Brianna. It's really important that they get in there as quickly as possible. The attorneys will be assisting in writing up the documents and making sure that everything meets constitutional muster. And that can be done fairly quickly. I'm sure that overnight is going to be leads that are developed in every case that we have. The investigators work around the clock to make sure they're getting everything that they can and I was often awoken at 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 in the morning with the latest information.
So, all of that is in process right now, and my colleagues have said exactly the right thing. It is critically important that the investigators run down this potential link, and also look at social media, look at any writings that they're going to find. And importantly, look at who his circle of friends are and acquaintances, people that he's been in contact with. And that information will come from the house. And then you can just very slowly and methodically go through each one of these individuals and question them.
The other thing that's important in this case is it is such a high- profile case that anybody who had contact with this man will be reporting things to the authorities. And I think that's where we get a lot of our leads in a case like this.
KEILAR: And, Juliette, the New Orleans -- sorry, go on.
Oh, I'm sorry. I think I heard feedback and thought you were chiming in there, Juliette.
I do want to note the New Orleans suspect made this series of videos talking about joining ISIS, also wanting to kill his family. He had an ISIS flag with him. Now, we do have these questions of whether there are some connections. Do you expect that we are going to learn that there were big red flags before this attack?
KAYYEM: I think so. Part of it is going to depend on two things. One is the radicalization process. There's lots of -- was it relatively quick? Honestly, it seems like what we know now, it was relatively quick so that there might not be lots of tentacles to investigate. It may be also ISIS took advantage or ISIS, or people on social media of a person who was searching for a cause to reflect his anger that he clearly had against gis family. So, when we say ISIS, there's a lot -- or connections to ISIS, here's a difference between Isis directed, which we saw in Paris or Berlin or elsewhere, and ISIS-inspired someone who is just finding meaning. It makes a huge difference for our purposes in terms of what are ISIS's plans here? Are they now launching another wave and in western cities and Western European cities as well as the United States?
And it goes to the most important thing, which is, is New Orleans safe now? Or is Las Vegas safe now? They are again going to hold a major event tomorrow night. I think they should. They will increase security there. Whether this is, you know, this is a person who felt that they needed to do this because they were motivated by the language and violence of ISIS as compared to directed, that's a very significant difference for the victims and for the city of New Orleans right now.
[22:15:14]
KEILAR: Yes, no, it certainly is. And, Andy, I wonder what you're thinking as you see that video of the suspect's car swerving around the police vehicle to make its way onto Bourbon Street. We know there's normally bollards there, they weren't fully functional, they were down. The police vehicle's there to provide a barrier, but it clearly did not. Was this a failure on the part of police? MCCABE: I mean, I think so. I don't know how you can characterize it any other way. You know, a police car parked across a street is going to deter any normal law abiding citizen who would want to turn there, right? You drive up and you see the police car there. And you're going to go and find another way to get to where you're going. That is not going to stop a terrorist. It's not going to stop a determined, motivated, trained operative who has decided that they are going to wreak havoc, especially when you have that large section of unimpeded sidewalk right next to where the police car was parked.
So, you know, a trained operative is going to find a weakness in any security plan. That's what they do. This is what they live for. This is what they spend their time planning about thinking about conducting surveillance. We don't know if this guy did any of those things, but I suspect we'll find more out about that as the days go on.
The point is, if the security demand is to keep vehicles out of that area, to do that, you have to physically blockade the entire entrance. And that's not what they had going last night, and that's partially why we got the result we did.
KEILAR: Yes, you can't leave an opening the size of an F-150, no doubt. Thank you all, I really appreciate your insights.
We have our breaking news continuing here in a moment. We're learning troubling new details about the alleged New Orleans terror suspect, including disturbing posts that talk about his desire to kill.
Plus, the suspect's ties to ISIS, does it appear that he coordinated the attack with ISIS, or was the suspect a lone wolf inspired by the group?
And investigators now interviewing a number of people who knew the terror suspect. So, what are they saying?
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[22:20:00]
KEILAR: We have breaking news. The Louisiana attorney general, Liz Murrill, says it appears that explosive devices related to the New Orleans attack appear to have been manufactured in an Airbnb that was rented out, quote, for that purpose.
We're learning this as we're also learning some new details about the 42-year-old suspect identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar. He was a divorced father of two, grew up in Texas and previously served in the U.S. Army. He has recently experienced financial problems. The suspect revealing in a recording that he planned to kill his family but changed his mind and instead joined ISIS.
President Biden tonight also saying that the suspect posted videos on social media indicating that he was inspired by ISIS.
Let's go now to Kyung Lah. She's learning more about the suspect's background tonight. Kyung, up until several years ago, the suspect's public profile suggested a fairly typical life. When did that start to change?
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Really, it's a change that's tracked through some of the court documents our investigative unit has been able to call, and you really see a turn there, generally in the financial marital space, but you mentioned that he really appeared to be very normal up until that point, he served in the army, so he was an Army veteran, he went to college, he worked in real estate and in I.T., he posted a YouTube video as recently as February, four years ago, and he looks dramatically different than this picture that we're showing there.
It was a video for a real estate company. He titled it, personal introduction. He talked about his life, where he was born. The video has since been taken down. But we do want to play the short clip because it does give you a sense of who the suspect is and his background.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAMSUD-DIN JABBAR, SUSPECT IN NEW ORLEANS ATTACK: So, I'm born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, and now live in Houston. And I've been here all my life with the exception of traveling for the military where I spent ten years as a human resources specialist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: I mentioned he served in the U.S. Army in 2013. There was a Facebook post that showed him in front of a monitor. That's a picture of him as an Army staff sergeant working as an information technology team chief for the 82nd Airborne Division, First Brigade Combat Team. It is an impressive unit. And so this is someone who had education and had drive.
His online resume shows that he went to college. Georgia State University says that he did attend and got his bachelor's degree there. And Texas records, Brianna, do show that he worked in real estate and he had a license for four years. Brianna?
KEILAR: Wow, that video is really interesting. This suspect also made a series of videos before the attack talking about a divorce, talking about wanting to kill his family. What are you learning about that?
LAH: You know, that's where you really see that turn that we were talking about. As recently as four years ago, you could almost track that decline on his financial records based on what he filed with the court because of divorce records. In 2012, he did have a divorce from his first wife. He'd been married twice. The first wife sued him trying to get spousal and child support. And then in 2022, he submitted an email talking about how essentially he was broke. He was tens of thousands of dollars behind in his mortgage payments, looking at foreclosure, that he was in credit card debt, that he couldn't keep up because his business was tens of thousands of dollars in the hole. So, all of this pressure was happening on him in just the last few years, Brianna.
KEILAR: Really interesting. Kyung Lah, thank you so much for that. And with us now is Seth Jones. He's an expert on ISIS, among many other things, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. And we're also joined by National Security Expert Jamil Jaffer.
[22:25:01]
Seth, can you tell what we're seeing here, if this is ISIS-inspired or if this might actually be ISIS-coordinated?
SETH JONES, PRESIDENT, DEFENSE AND SECURITY DEPARTMENT, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Brianna, good question. I think at this point, we don't know the answer yet. That will have to be determined in the investigation as it proceeds. But I will say this does not really have the hallmark of an ISIS-directed attack. The ones that we've seen that have been directed, there's been significant planning for the attack. They've usually involved multiple individuals. Think, for example, of the January attack against the Qassem Soleimani ceremony in Iran, which does appear to have been an ISIS-directed attack, multiple individuals involved in a coordinated active shooter-like attack.
This is a much more rudimentary one, so probably has more of the hallmarks of an inspired attack. And that would also be pretty consistent with most of the ISIS attacks or plots in the United States. They've -- generally, it's hard to get someone like that into the U.S. So, the vast majority of the ones we've seen in the Hudson River, for example, or in San Bernardino, or the Pulse nightclub in Florida, have generally been ISIS-inspired attacks.
KEILAR: Yes. There'd been this drumbeat of ISIS-inspired attacks, Jamil, and then, you know, There have been kind of a little bit of a reprieve. And now you have the president saying that the New Orleans suspect posted these videos on social media only hours before the attack, indicating that he was indeed inspired by ISIS. You say that we're seeing an uptick here in recent recruiting by ISIS in recent months and years.
JAMIL JAFFER, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL SECURITY INSTITUTE: Well, you know, Brianna, we've seen an uptick in their efforts to try and get Americans and Europeans to conduct attacks in where they live, where they reside, in an effort to try and spread this toxic ideology in order to spread the terror across the globe because they can't effectively do it with their own operatives, as Seth has correctly laid out.
And so we've seen these attacks, we've seen the attack in Germany at the Christmas market. We're now seeing this attack. And this is a steady theme that ISIS is engaged in. So, it wouldn't be surprising to see if that's exactly what happened here. And there is this nexus between his economic challenges, his family challenges, and potentially mental health issues. This was a guy who had served honorably, it appears, as far as we can tell, for 13 years in the U.S. military, now turned to an awful outcome.
KEILAR: Yes. And, Seth, I want to play a little bit more. We have a video of the New Orleans suspect speaking positively about his skills in a post-military career in real estate. Here he is again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JABBAR: So, I'm born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, and now live in Houston. And I've been here all my life with the exception of traveling for the military, where I spent ten years as a human resources specialist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Does it surprise you, Seth, that someone like that could be radicalized?
JONES: No. We've seen individuals from the military that have been radicalized. The challenge of the radicalization process can vary dramatically for some. It can be weeks or months. And in some cases, it can be very quick. Again, not entirely clear what the radicalization process was at this point.
But I think -- I do want to pick up on one point that Jamil mentioned earlier, which is we are seeing more plots and attacks by ISIS. And I would, I remind folks as well that the -- there were nine arrests in 2024. Five of them were involving ISIS plots in the United States. That's an uptick from 2023. The U.S. has also been pretty aggressively targeting ISIS camps in places, like Syria. December, last month, a lot of activity from U.S. Central Command targeting ISIS camps in Syria, as the Assad regime collapsed. So, this is a reminder that we have not fully gotten out of this stage that terrorism is a threat.
KEILAR: An important one. Jamil, what do we need to have on our radar with all of that in mind?
JAFFER: Well, look, obviously, we should be looking at the big upcoming events. We've got a presidential inauguration on January 20th, now the Sugar Bowl tomorrow now delayed from today, the Super Bowl coming up, but also the swearing in of a new Congress, a lot of things going on in the United States where terrorists could take action, inspire people, inspired by Al Qaeda or ISIS. Al Qaeda remains a threat as well.
And remember, as Seth points out, we've been very active against ISIS. We've killed three of their top leaders in the last five years, including on December 20th, as Seth was saying, we killed Abu Yusuf, also known as -- who also was a senior ISIS leader, and having taken him out, that could also inspire somebody or could push them to try and press somebody who they were trying to inspire to actually take action now, that's a concern as well.
KEILAR: Yes. We need to be on higher alert, for sure. Seth, Jamil, thank you to you both.
JAFFER: Thanks, Brianna.
KEILAR: Coming up next, we have some breaking news. We are learning now that investigators are clearing that area around the New Orleans suspect's home in Texas, as they're waiting for word to enter his house.
[22:30:04]
We'll have new details next.
Plus, he may know New Orleans better than anyone, retired Lieutenant General Russel Honore. Who led the rescue efforts during Katrina. Is he surprised to how easily the terrorist suspect was carry out this attack.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:33:44]
KEILAR: We have breaking news. CNN learning the FBI will be briefing members of Congress tomorrow on the attack in New Orleans that killed 15 people after a car rammed into a crowd on iconic Bourbon Street. This comes as we're learning more about that Tesla cyber truck that exploded.
In this video you see it here outside of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. We have Evan Perez joining us now with the latest on both of these investigations. Evan, what are you learning?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, you know these were the obvious coincidences of these two attacks, which happened on New Year's Day. Obviously the two subjects involved both renting vehicles from this app called Turo, where people can rent their private cars to other people. And also, the fact that both subjects are believed to have connections to the U.S. military.
Now, in the case of the cyber truck incident there at Trump Tower, authorities are still not sure what this is. If it's just a person who set off this firework inside that cyber truck? Whether there was any links to terrorism? Obviously, that's a major part of this because of the location. It happened right there at the entrance.
You can see there in the video, right outside the entrance to the Trump Tower Hotel in Las Vegas. And then, in the case of New Orleans, the FBI very quickly arrived at the idea that this would be a terrorism investigation, they found an ISIS flag.
[22:35:00]
They also found writings on the suspect which indicated that he had an affinity or allegiance to the terrorist group ISIS. They also found recordings, according to our John Miller, which -- in which he ruminated about ISIS and about his motivations and his financial struggles in the last few days. We also -- they also found weapons, by the way, in that truck and IEDs, something that the FBI had to detonate later on in the day.
Now, at this hour, the FBI is still trying to rule out whether there are any accomplices. They've talked to a number of people who knew the -- or associated with the suspect, and -- you know obviously the suspect, who is an Army Veteran, someone who's 42-years-old, from Texas, a U.S. citizen.
All of those things are still part of this investigation. As you mentioned, Brianna a little while ago they're still working to do a search of a home out there in near Houston, where the suspect is believed to have lived, Brianna.
KEILAR: Which -- hopefully will yield more information. Evan, thank you for the update there. With us now, we have a Louisiana native who led the Hurricane Katrina Task Force, Retired Army General Russell Honore, and long-time resident and Board Chair of the New Orleans French Quarter Management District, Jane Cooper as well.
General, when you hear what you heard today, that these bollards on Bourbon Street, blocking entrance normally were not raised, that they were under repair heading into New Year's Eve, and you see how the police vehicle was stationed there, leaving a wide gap. Do you believe this attack was preventable?
GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), LED HURRICANE KATRINA TASK FORCE: Brianna, I believe this determined terrorist, like this -- who is willing to die, would find a target. He came with a purpose to kill people. He is of an ideology, not from a nation state, but ideology of ISIS, Islamic State of Syria and Iran.
He was determined to, in the name of ISIS, to have retribution. Almost on a daily basis we are attacking ISIS targets in Syria and anywhere else we can find them, because they are on a mission, a jihadist mission, to call it death and destruction to the United States and our allies.
So, he may not have taken orders from anybody in the Middle East, but he was a determined terrorist to cause death and destruction, and while they will find better ways and more redundant blocking of those streets, he could have gone a block away from all that blocking on the Bourbon Street and find hundreds of people on any street in New Orleans, on Canal or Poydras or Tchoupitoulas, and run in and kill a bunch of people.
This was a symbolic attack on New Year's with a lot of people in town, very symbolic a bold game. And this is -- fits the ISIS playbook. They don't have jets and TAMA (ph) missiles. They empower their members to attack targets where they can and kill as many people with the attempt that they will die.
KEILAR: Jane, you were actually on Bourbon Street just before the attack. You were a community owner, or, pardon me, community member, you're a business owner, and I just wonder for you, how much did this shatter your sense of security that experience?
JANE COOPER, BOARD CHAIR, NOLA'S FRENCH QUARTER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT: Well, yes. My husband and I had dinner at Galatoire's, which, of course, is iconic New Orleans restaurant in that first block of Bourbon Street, right off the Canal, and we left a couple of hours before the attack and walked home, as we always do walk throughout the French Quarter. So as a resident and business owner and as the Chairman of the Board
of French Quarter Management District, I've come to learn that there's the perception of security and there's the reality of security, and I know how diligently all of our law enforcement partners worked to create a safe environment for this very important day for the city and for all of the visitors and workers and residents that love New Orleans.
So, I feel safe, but obviously there's a lot of work that has to be done locally and with our state partners as well to make sure that every precaution that can be taken is taken to protect the visitors and workers who today, the workers on Bourbon Street did not get to go to work, and that has an impact on them.
[22:40:00]
Of course, the victims, we are all very concerned about the victims and their families, whose lives will never be the same.
KEILAR: Yeah. And what's clear from that press conference we saw earlier today, General is that there are a lot of economic concerns. There's also this desire not to let terrorists win, and the Sugar Bowl has been delayed 24 hours, but it's still going to continue tomorrow. Do you have concerns about that?
HONORE: I do have concerns, because on any given day, a determined terrorist can attack a soft target. You know, Brianna, when I woke up this morning at 5 and I saw killing in the French Quarter. I thought it was another mass shooting, which Jane can attribute to every now and then somebody will come down at a major event and street crime, somebody will get automatic weapon and shoot a bunch of people.
That was my earlier thought. I said, oh, man, another mass shooting in the French Quarter at a bad time during a major event. But my perception, that's what it was. On the other hand, it ended up being a terrorist attack. The police are well trained in trying to deal with street crime and gang type activity that may come to the French Quarter with an automatic weapon.
We've had several of those incidents, and they're well trained to respond to it. I don't think they were as focused as we should until today on the potential of terrorist attack using vehicles. And what could be worse, Brianna, is a terrorist attack with body bombs.
They would have to have a lot of technical assistance to do that. They use those quite effectively against our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. But we need to be prepared for all types of terrorist attacks and ISIS fighters are determined on killing Americans.
KEILAR: Jane, are you concerned about the Super Bowl proceeding? Do you have concerns about Mardi Gras, which is just around the corner?
COOPER: No, I don't. I think General Honore said it very well, a determined terrorist can kill people any place, any time. I mean, in New Orleans, we always live with the reality of a lot of people in our city. Law enforcement is very integrated right now, and personally -- you know I'm not going to change my life.
I think our city is always been resilient, and this is another opportunity to show the world that we're going to carry on and be smart but be safe, but also love and enjoy our city.
KEILAR: Jane Cooper, General Honore, thank you to you both. Our hearts are with New Orleans tonight as we are watching what has happened today. Thank you.
HONORE: God bless.
COOPER: Thank you.
KEILAR: Next our John Miller breaking some new details about the chilling messages left behind by the New Orleans terror suspect. He's on the phone right now with his sources, so we'll talk about what he's learning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:40:00]
KEILAR: We do a breaking news law enforcement has begun searching a Houston location they believe is connected to the suspected New Orleans attacker. No arrests have been made at the locations, and the authorities will be there for several more hours, according to the FBI.
And this is coming as we're learning more about the suspects alleged ties to ISIS. As we mentioned, multiple officials told CNN's John Miller, that the suspect made a series of video recordings before the attack, where he said that he had joined ISIS. With us now is CNN's Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller, as well as Former FBI Special Agent Jason Pack.
John, tell us what more your sources have told you about these posts and what role they could play in the investigation.
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, this is talking to multiple people on all different ends of this case, but the headline is he pledges allegiance to ISIS, not in the formal way that we've seen in prior messages, where they almost read by a script saying, I pledge allegiance to, and then they say the name of the leader of ISIS and the Islamic State.
In this case, it's a bit of a rambling conversation over four or five different recordings. They appear to be made kind of in the dark as he's driving. You can't really see him. You can tell that you're in a car moving. It's probably made as he's on his way from Texas to Louisiana, but the substance of it really tells you where he's coming from and how he got to this place.
He talks about the falling apart of his family, the bitter divorce, his feeling of being isolated and ostracized. He said, one of my plans originally was to get the family together at a holiday event and then use that as a ruse to get them in one place and kill them. Then he talks about kind of shifting to but I had some dreams, dreams
about ISIS, about joining ISIS about what to do, and that's why I'm going down this path to this attack that I'm on the way to? He tackles back and says, I don't want you to think, referring to his family, that I'm doing these killings because of you. This is for ISIS in some and substance, and I'm paraphrasing.
But it gives us a window when you start to ask that question, how does someone who you know served in the U.S. military, served in Afghanistan, came back, tried to go into business, went through some personal issues, end up on this end of kind of ISIS recruiting and goes to kill people, literally following the ISIS playbook of how to get a large vehicle?
How to find a crowded place? Pick a narrow street with a big crowd, go for maximum lethality. Have secondary weapons. Confront police -- you know attempt martyrdom and leave that message behind about why you're doing it. He followed it to a T.
KEILAR: He did. Jason the FBI, does it have -- I wonder what, first off, your reaction to learning what's in this social media post? But also, does the FBI have resources to identify that kind of video before an attack like today?
JASON PACK, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Thanks, Brianna. I think what the investigators right now are prioritizing, particularly at this location in Houston, are what ideology things can they find in there? What intelligence is in there that they can act upon, or may be able to prove the radicalization process that they suspect has happened here?
[22:50:00]
And so, the reason the search actually in Houston has taken a little bit longer is because they have to put the tactical special agent, bomb technicians in there to make sure that the place isn't booby trapped. And then they'll go piece by piece in there, they're probably going to have some FBI profilers from BAU 1, kind of take a look at any evidence that they see there, and kind of put those pieces together.
And then, in turn, the FBI Field Office in Las Vegas and the FBI Field Office in New Orleans in constant contact, just to see if any of these things are related.
KEILAR: John turning to that Vegas attack. What are you learning there?
MILLER: Well, so that's, that's an even deeper mystery. Because -- you know this is rented from Turo, the same rental company that the suspect in New Orleans used. He rented this Tesla cyber vehicle. So, the person he rented it from has the identifiers for who he rented it to. The background of that person is also a military background.
He is reportedly a Special Forces Sergeant, expert in communications, but authorities haven't identified the body that's in the car. They're operating on the theory that he's the person who rented the vehicle, because that's a logical theory, but they still don't know it's him.
But when you get down to it, then, using an Elon Musk Tesla targeting a Trump property in a high-profile way on a holiday in Las Vegas, another military person within four hours of the first attack, you have to really kind of go through the -- go through the questions of, is there a connection, or is this a coincidence? And if it is a coincidence, who was the second attack on behalf of in Las Vegas? Lot of questions.
KEILAR: A lot. John Miller and Jason Pack, thank you so much to you both. And next President Biden revealing some new information about the New Orleans suspects ties to ISIS.
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KEILAR: We're back now with our breaking news. President Biden revealing more about the attack in New Orleans that killed 15 people and injured dozens more. The president saying the suspect indicated A, desire to kill and videos posted to social media in the hours before the attack.
[22:55:00]
Priscilla Alvarez is with us now. Priscilla, what else is Biden saying tonight?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, President Biden acknowledged in his brief remarks this evening that the situation is still, quote, very fluid, and the investigation is still in its preliminary stage. But before diving into some of the details of the investigation that have been made public over the course of the day.
He also took a moment to acknowledge the families of the victims, saying, quote, the nation grieves with you, and also thinking first responders as well as those within his administration who kept him updated over the course of the day.
Now, as far as what he shared about the investigation, he said much of what we had learned, for example, that the suspect had served in the U.S. military, that hours before the attack, had posted on social media that he had been inspired by ISIS. And then ISIS flag was found on his vehicle. But the president also recognizing that there are still questions that need to be answered.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The law enforcement intelligence community are continuing to look for any connections, associations or co-conspirators. We have nothing additional report at this time, the investigation is continuing to be active, and no one should jump to conclusions.
I directed my Attorney General, the FBI Director, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Head of the National Counter Intelligence Terrorism Center, and the Intelligence Community to work on this intensively until we have a full and complete information.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALVAREZ: Now again, the president stressing there that no one should jump to conclusions. The president also concluding his brief remarks by saying that he will continue to keep the American people informed, but certainly his administration still working around the clock to try to again provide that complete information that the president said is underway, Brianna.
KEILAR: Priscilla, thank you. And thank you so much for joining us. Our breaking news coverage continues right after this.