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Biden: Investigators Looking At Possible Link Between New Orleans Attack, Las Vegas Cybertruck Explosion; FBI Investigating Tesla Cybertruck Blast Near Trump Hotel; Biden Offers Condolences, Promises Support For New Orleans; Terror Attacks That Used Vehicles As Weapons. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired January 01, 2025 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hello, and welcome to all of our viewers who are watching in the United States and from around the world. I'm Brianna Keilar in Washington, and we do begin with breaking news in 2 separate attacks here in the U.S. on New Year's Day.
President Joe Biden says investigators are looking into whether there is any possible link between a ramming attack that killed dozens of people in New Orleans by a suspect with apparent ties to ISIS and a Tesla truck explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas.
Multiple law enforcement sources are telling CNN that the suspects in both incidents had military backgrounds. In New Orleans, police now say 15 people have been killed, more than 30 others injured in that truck ramming attack in the city's historic French quarter.
The FBI says it is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism. It happened just after 3:00 AM local time Wednesday. People still celebrating, of course, the new year on Bourbon Street just a few hours after ringing it in. Investigators say that the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar plowed through the crowd in a large pickup truck, an F-150.
And we should warn you that much of the video from the scene is graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALETHEA DUNCAN, FBI ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates.
KEILAR (voice-over): Now video shows the white Ford F-150 making a sharp right turn, you see it there, onto Bourbon Street off of Canal Street, past police barricades onto the sidewalk there. The driver, as you just saw continued down the street, continued as we understand it for several blocks, mowing down dozens of pedestrians.
2 officers were wounded in the shootout that killed the suspect. Investigators say, 42 year old Shamsud-Din Jabbar was born and raised in the U.S., served in the army. They say that he made recordings on the drive from Texas to Louisiana about joining ISIS, and also about having previously wanted to kill his family.
Police say they found an ISIS flag. You see it there on the back of the truck. They also found improvised explosive devices in Jabbar's truck, and investigators are looking into whether he had any accomplices.
TROY CARTER, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: Right now, the entire French Quarter, particularly Bourbon Street, is an active crime scene. We have federal, local, and state officials who are embedded in this community, looking for additional evidence, looking to make sure that there's no IEDs. We know that there were at least 2 that were found and detonated without incident. And now what we have is a complete, use of every resource.
KEILAR (voice-over): Now among the first victims identified, 37 year old Reggie Hunter from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His cousin says that he leaves behind 2 children who are ages 11 and 1 year old.
KEILAR (on camera): U.S. President Joe Biden says the suspect in the New Orleans attack was quote "inspired by ISIS" especially the desire to kill. But with the investigation still in a preliminary stage, he cautioned Americans against jumping to conclusions. Biden also promised the government's full support to the people of New Orleans.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our hearts are with the people in New Orleans after despicable attack that occurred in early morning hours. To all the families of those who were killed, to all those who were injured, to all the people of New Orleans who are grieving today, I want you to know, I grieve with you, our nation grieves with you. We're going to stand with you as you mourn and as you heal in the weeks to come.
I want to thank our brave first responders and law enforcement personnel who stopped the attacker in his tracks before he could kill or injured even more people. I want to thank you to everyone at the Department of the Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, including the FBI, working nonstop to investigate this heinous act.
I directed my team to make sure every resource, every resource is made available to federal, state, and local law enforcement to complete the investigation in New Orleans quickly and to make sure there's no remaining threat to the American people. And we'll support the people in New Orleans as they began the hard work of healing.
New Orleans is a place unlike any other place in the world. It's a city full of charm and joy. So many people around the world love New Orleans because of its history, its culture, and above all its people. So I know, while this person committed a terrible assault on the city, the spirit of our New Orleans will never, never, never be defeated.
[23:05:00]
KEILAR (voice-over): US President-elect Donald Trump released a statement and it read in part, quote, "Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans police department. The Trump administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: More now on the investigation and the fallout from the attack from CNN's Omar Jimenez in New Orleans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIMBERLY STRICKLIN, WITNESS: Sudden terror on Bourbon Street. There are just bodies and the screams. You cannot think about, you know, on here that. It is chaos and very, very scary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything the car is hitting, it's getting thrown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A vehicle ran through a lot of people. There's multiple injuries, multiple casualties. They need you at Canal and Bourbon.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just hours after the clock struck midnight, the driver in a pickup truck went around barricades according to police, killing those celebrating New Year's Eve along the iconic street. At least 15 people were killed, dozens others injured.
ANNE E. KIRKPATRICK, NEW ORLEANS POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: This is not just an act of terrorism, this is evil.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): The suspect identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42 year old man from Texas who previously served in the U.S. military. He was allegedly driving a privately rented pickup truck from Turo, an Airbnb type rental site for cars.
DUNCAN: An ISIS flag was located on the trailer hitch of a vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject's potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Once the vehicle stopped, the driver reportedly opened fire on responding police officers.
DUNCAN: Law enforcement returned fire, and the subject was pronounced deceased at the scene. 2 law enforcement officers were injured and transported to local hospitals.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Witnesses are asking questions about why the city's steel mechanical barricades weren't up prior to the attack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was police there, at the entrance, a lot of police there, but the metal barricades were not up.
MAYOR LATOYA CANTRELL, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA: Bollards were not up because they are near completion.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): The FBI, which has taken over the investigation, does not believe the suspect acted alone.
DUNCAN: We're aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): And the Sugar Bowl for college football scheduled to be held in New Orleans this evening has been postponed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All agree that, it's in the best interest of everybody in public safety that we postpone the game for 24 hours.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Omar Jimenez, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: And let's go live now to CNN's Ivan Rodriguez who is in New Orleans. Ivan, what can you tell us about where things stand tonight?
IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, still very active scene here right on the corner of Canal and Bourbon. As we've seen in surveillance footage now for the last several hours, this is that corner where that white Ford truck made that turn around the police vehicle that was serving as a barrier and then continued down that street slamming into crowds of people where we now know dozens have been injured, 15 people at least killed.
I want to show you here around, Brianna, to give you a sense, because it might look a little more quiet here behind me, but still a lot of people out on the street here tonight in New Orleans. Again, looking at the heart of what is the French Quarter here.
Officials have asked people throughout the day to try and get away from the scene unless it was absolutely necessary to come down here. But, you know, throughout the day this has sort of been the visuals that we've been seeing.
Obviously, a lot of tourists here for the Sugar Bowl, which was postponed until tomorrow. We're now anticipating heavy police presence at that game. And we're also, Brianna, just learning now a little bit more about one of the latest victims. We're learning that a former Princeton College football player is among those killed here in this New Orleans attack. Previously, our reporting, we'd only known of one other confirmation of identity of one, 37 year old, father who was also killed, now learning of a second one killed as well.
KEILAR: And, Ivan, law enforcement spent much of the day. They stressed it was a very active crime scene. The victims' bodies were actually there for quite some time, at least 12 hours. And they -- law enforcement were spending time, detonating, rendering safe as they put it, explosive devices that they found or believed to find there in the French Quarter. Do you have any updates on what they found, where they think those came from?
[23:10:00] RODRIGUEZ: Well, we actually do have an update on where they think that they came from. And the -- what we're you're hearing from now was that those explosive devices that were used here in the New Orleans attack and that were found were actually manufactured at an Airbnb here in the city of New Orleans. That was according to the Louisiana Attorney General and comments that she made to NBC and she also made reference to a house fire that occurred earlier this morning, where they believe those IEDs were being made.
We had known for the last several hours that, this suspected attacker stayed at a local Airbnb. Now, though, they're making that connection, that these IEDs were in fact being made at the Airbnb that he was at.
Another thing that we're keeping a close eye on is not only the investigation here, which is crucial and ongoing, but also what's going on in Texas. Because right now, we're aware that law enforcement have begun searching a Houston location, which they believe is connected to the suspected attacker as well.
Earlier, we knew that they were waiting on a federal approval to go into the home. They're now inside of the home, and we're expecting them to be in that home for the next several hours according to the FBI.
KEILAR: All right. Ivan Rodriguez, thank you for the latest there from New Orleans.
We're also following developments out of Las Vegas where a Tesla cyber truck exploded outside of the Trump Hotel on Wednesday morning. Here's the moment police suspect either fireworks or some type of gas tank went off in the bed of the vehicle.
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KEILAR (voice-over): You see it there on camera. The FBI working to determine whether this was an act of terrorism. Veronica Miracle has more details.
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VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Our John Miller is telling us he has spoken to multiple law enforcement officials who say that the driver of the cyber truck has a military background. A law enforcement official say they know the name of this driver who died in the explosion, but they are not going to be releasing the identity of that driver until they notify the next of kin.
That we understand that this driver was in Las Vegas for about an hour driving around the strip before pulling up to Trump Tower before that explosion happened. And authorities say the driver rented the cyber truck in Colorado via the Turo app before driving down to Las Vegas.
Video released by law enforcement shows explosives that were contained inside the truck, which included fireworks, gas tanks, and camping fuel, and all of that was connected to a detonation system that was controlled by the driver.
And the sheriff pointed out, which is really incredible, how the Cybertruck actually contained the explosion. The way that it was built forced the explosion, to go upwards instead of outwards, which meant that the glass from Trump Tower was not broken, and 7 people nearby were injured but with minor injuries. All of them are OK. They've all been released from the hospital.
The driver did die, and Las Vegas police believe that this was an isolated incident. They are not yet willing to say if this was, in fact, connected to what happened in New Orleans, but it is quite unusual that both the drivers in these incidents rented their cars from Turo.
We do have a statement from Turo, and they said they're cooperating with these investigations, but they also said that neither of the drivers had criminal backgrounds, which would have flagged them as security threats. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: All right, Veronica. Thank you so much for that. Joining us now, we have CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, John Miller. John, you have been talking to sources specifically about this Vegas suspect. What are you learning?
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, we're learning he also, as we mentioned, has a military background. It appears he's active duty, and it appears he's a special forces communications officer. So the question is, that is who authorities believe rented this truck from its owner through the Turo app, which is a app that rents people's private vehicles to other people as the facilitator.
They are going on the investigative assumption that he's also the person who is in that vehicle, when it exploded, but they won't have that for certain until they get an ID, a positive ID, DNA, dental records, something on the body that was -- went up in flames in that vehicle. So what they're looking now is going back through that person's history. Who is that person, where was he supposed to be in the military? Was he on leave? And then what is his background, associates, and communications with other people?
Now in the New Orleans attack, of course, they know all that. He is a former military person, and he made his recordings, pledging his allegiance to ISIS and going through some of his personal issues on tape.
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KEILAR: Yeah. And these are -- I think these are the things that are raising questions. I think we should be very clear. These are very different military backgrounds, but you can't ignore the fact that there are 2 people military connected using the same website to rent a car. There are explosive devices. They were not used. They weren't detonated, John, in the case of New Orleans, but it was because police stopped the suspect there. There's also differences, and I wonder how law enforcement is trying to wade through that.
MILLER: Well, I think they're looking at is, you can't ignore the coincidences, so they will consider them. But until they actually have a connection, either between both men and ISIS facilitators or ISIS propaganda or both men and each other, they're going to operate on the idea that that's just a road that they have to go down.
They'll also operate, of course, on the independent theory that there is no connection. That in fact, the two attacks were generated possibly because of the symbolic holiday, New Year's, the symbolic location, a Trump location, the symbolic weapon or vessel, a Elon Musk truck in the Las Vegas case, symbolic date New Orleans, and symbolic location, the heart of their tourist district, and that there -- despite the coincidences, maybe no coincidence I mean, maybe no connection at all.
KEILAR: Yeah. That's entirely possible. We know you'll keep working your sources and asking questions. John, thank you so much for the very latest there.
We have, pardon me, more on the Las Vegas truck explosion coming up later this hour. First, though, we do have some new details about the terror attack in New Orleans. What we know about the suspect in the New Year's Day attack, we'll have that next.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, my son was actually in close proximity to the shooting, with his friends. There's 8 of them total. And right when it happened, the girlfriend called us. We left the hotel right away, shot right into it to get them out.
Oh, it was it was pandemonium. It was obviously emergency vehicles, everywhere. Police were everywhere. Bodies of folks were just running to the streets. Obviously, they were panicking as well. It was an active shooter situation as far as we were concerned. So we just -- we didn't know what to expect. But that's what was running throughout our mind was really to get to them quickly and get the mission accomplished by getting them out safely. That was number one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: A father describing the chaos after the deadly New Orleans terror attack as he tried to reach his son. At least 15 people were killed on New Year's Day, dozens more injured. The FBI says the attacker drove a rented pickup truck into a crowd on the city's famous Bourbon Street just after 3:00 AM local time, then exchanged fire with local police.
42 year old Shamsud-Din Jabbar was killed at the scene. A source familiar with the investigation says authorities have been interviewing people who knew him, but have not made any arrests or identified any additional suspects so far.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIZ MURRILL, LOUISIANA ATTORNEY GENERAL: We also have some people who are fighting for their lives right now in the hospital. This was a heinous act, a heinous, cowardly act, and we will find them and we will bring them to justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: The FBI says law enforcement is hours away from entering and searching the Houston home they believe is connected to the suspected New Orleans attacker. CNN's Kyung Lah reports on what we know about the suspect.
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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: The suspect behind the terror attack in New Orleans up until several years ago appeared to be quite normal. An army veteran who went to college and worked in real estate and IT had started to have some financial troubles.
He posted a YouTube video, though, as recently as 4 years ago, where he described that he had been born in Texas. That he was trying to get this real estate company off the ground. He identified himself as a veteran.
We want to play you a short clip of this, even though this video has been taken down because it gives you a window into the background of this suspect.
SHAMSUD-DIN 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 10 years as a human resources specialist.
LAH (voice-over): You're looking at a picture from the U.S. Army. It comes from a 2013 U.S. Army Facebook post that identified him as an army staff sergeant working as an information technology team chief for the 82nd Airborne Division's First Brigade Combat Team.
LAH: Now looking online, he appeared to have very much a normal background. He went to college. He went to Georgia State University. The university confirms that he did graduate with a bachelor's degree. He worked in real estate in Texas for 4 years, and then things started to change. There are divorce records that show in 2012 from his first wife, she sued him to try to get child support.
And then in his second marriage, there was a filing that the suspect -- the would be suspect would eventually file saying that, he was tens of thousands of dollars in debt from his business, that he was at risk of foreclosure, and that he had credit card debt. And that's why he was petitioning the judge to try to back out of some of those payments.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles. (END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: All right. Thanks to Kyung for that. In recent months, American officials have sounded the alarm about ISIS recruitment efforts and so called lone wolf terror attacks. Last hour, I asked national security expert, Jamil Jaffer, and Seth Jones from the Center For Strategic and International Studies, if this attack appears to be ISIS inspired or ISIS coordinated.
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SETH JONES, PRESIDENT, DEFENSE & SECURITY DEPT., CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTL. STUDIES: 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.
[23:25:00]
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 in ISIS inspired attacks.
KEILAR: Yeah. There'd been this drumbeat of ISIS inspired attacks, Jamil, and then there'd 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 years.
JAMIL JAFFER, FOUNDER & 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 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, in Germany at the Christmas market. We're now seeing this attack, and this is a steady theme that ISIS is engaged in. So I wouldn't be surprised 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, awful outcome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: We've been hearing from people who were on Bourbon Street on New Year's Eve. A resident of New Orleans spoke to CNN earlier today and described the harrowing aftermath that he witnessed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JIMMY COTHRAN, WITNESS: About 3:05, 3:10 this morning, me and my friend were heading from Lower Bourbon towards Canal. We seen towards Krystal burger and all that, that there was just a lot going on and so we ducked off into a nightclub real quick. And within 2 minutes of walking in 5 -- 4 or 5 girls come running in, pushed 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 disfigurement and the body's strewn, something you cannot say you'll never forget.
Directly at our feet was definitely a mother, twisted up, obviously deceased. We counted around 8 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. He was completely crushed.
Another girl, young small girl was dancing when we were coming up the street and she was just completely flat in the middle, dead center. 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Horrific descriptions. Let's bring in now New Orleans City Council Member JP Morrell. It is tough to listen to what people went through last night on Bourbon Street. And so many people are looking for answers today, Council Member. What we heard earlier today in that press conference was that the FBI didn't think that this person was solely responsible for what happened. Does that stand at this hour?
JP MORRELL, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCILMEMBER: I think that that still stands. Obviously, there are reports -- substantiated reports of IEDs being located in the vicinity of the vehicle, but obviously not placed by the individual who's driving it. I think that's probably why, thus far the FBI has continued to keep that as the forefront because you can't quite -- there doesn't seem to have been an opportunity for that individual to have preplaned those explosives -- those explosive devices. So I think that is really what they've leaned into as far as saying there were other people involved.
[23:30:00]
I think that it's been really tough today. It's been really tough in the city. It's been really tough on our citizens just because the city is so renowned for being this open, inclusive place full of joy where people come to really kind of just be. And it's just been so incredibly jarring in the aftermath of this attack, how we're all struggling to find answers, while also struggling to find a way forward.
Because, as you know, we've got a Sugar Bowl tomorrow. We've got a Super Bowl next month. And these are all things that we have to do, and we all know in our heart that terrorism, terrorists, they do these jarring awful things to make us not be who we are. But in the moment, it is very difficult to get back to that.
KEILAR: Yeah. They do. They do it to disrupt, and there's also a desire not -- I understand it, we heard it loud and clear from this press conference earlier today, not wanting to let the terrorists win. But if you ask New Orleanians and officials, you know, who are they? They're going to tell you they're also people who want to protect people who are in their city. So those are the things you're balancing. Right?
And I just want to ask you because the Sugar Bowl, huge football game, huge American football game. I just want to be clear, we're simulcasting on CNN International right now. Huge game, huge draw, for people in your city. And it was supposed to happen tonight. It's been postponed until tomorrow. Do you have any concerns that that may be too soon?
MORRELL: I don't. Insofar as had we gone with the Super Bowl on its original schedule, I think it was too much.
KEILAR: The Sugar Bowl. Yes.
MORRELL: I mean, had it gone tonight while Bourbon Street is still an active crime scene, I don't know if the city could have bared it emotionally in the wake. I mean, you can't really mourn simultaneously with something like that.
I do think that taking that 24 hour period to bring some closure to the Bourbon Street incident, I think that the tremendous amount of resources being brought to the city from the surrounding parishes, the state level, and the federal level. This event tomorrow will be given -- be so tremendously over resourced that it will be probably one of the safest places on earth.
That being said, it's not going to be the same event it would have been yesterday. It's going to be an event with massive checkpoints. I've told a lot of people who are visitors, who are people who are here for the game. You do prepare for figuring out how you're going to get there when your vehicle can't park as close. You're going to have to go through checkpoints. It's going to be a different process.
I mean, tomorrow is going to be rough. We are already in the midst of looking at infrastructure improvements both for tomorrow, but also for the Super Bowl, which is in a month. And as you know, we are renowned internationally for Mardi Gras, which is the largest outdoor party really available other than carnival in Brazil. And that's also in 6 weeks.
So as a city in the midst of all this, we are recalibrating on a massive scale to see how we can continue to be the city everyone loves while also making sure that we are safe. And it is a difficult type rope to walk, but I think as a city, as a state, and as a nation, we're capable of it. And I can say we are not lacking for resources and help. Everyone is helping, whether it's neighboring cities.
I mean, we've gotten calls from neighboring countries saying, what can we do to help? I mean, New Orleans is that city. It's the international city that predates the United States.
KEILAR: Yeah. That's right.
MORRELL: And feels a sense of ownership in trying to make this better.
KEILAR: That's right. Back to these explosive devices there in the French Quarter. Are they -- I mean, how certain are -- so you're telling us law enforcement saw them being placed or has some evidence of them being placed by people who are not the suspect? Can you tell -- can you tell us --
MORRELL: That's what we understand.
KEILAR: That's what you understand. Can you tell us a little bit more about that? And if they have all -- if law enforcement is sure that they've all been cleared at this point?
MORRELL: Well, from what we understand there were 2 devices that were found that were highly suspected to be IEDs. They were located away from the site. They are -- part of this, I think, this delay with information is New Orleans has a camera system, not quite to the level of New York, but a very significant real time crime center. And they're combing through a tremendous amount of footage available to try and figure out who might have placed it.
[23:35:00]
Because obviously, the challenge you have with suspicious devices is, people walk by them. So you have to try to differentiate between somebody who walked by it, took a look at it, and somebody who might have placed it. That's a lot of investigation that has to be done.
As far as is there anything else out there, local law enforcement with partners and with the federal government, they literally walked the entire French Quarter CBD area in a grid, like shoulder to shoulder looking everywhere. So it's with bomb dogs as well. So as far as there being something that was missed, I would say that it's almost impossible that something was missed.
But the existence of those devices as well as there is a lot that we're still unraveling. Like, when you look at the fact that when the suspect turned on to Bourbon Street, they immediately hit the sidewalk to circumvent the police cars that were placed there as obstacles. There is a level of intent here where this was very carefully cased out.
KEILAR: But, Council Member, I want to ask you about that, and we talked about it earlier as well today.
MORRELL: Right. KEILAR: It appeared that the police vehicle was obstructing the road in such a way that, let's say, if I don't know, an Uber driver is turning down the street to go to a hotel, it's going to stop someone like that. Right? It's going to stop someone going down a street they shouldn't be on where there's revelers.
But where that police vehicle was placed was not going to stop anyone who is trying to get by with a nefarious intent such as the case that we saw early this morning. I mean, what do you say about that? There was a giant more than F-150 size gap for this truck to drive through.
MORRELL: Well, I think there's 2 things. First, the police car -- obviously, that we are in the midst of addressing the bollard situation. But the police car was where the bollards would have been. So as far as that window where a car would have got through, I think one of the things that we're going to have to grapple with is, I think that a lot of different governmental agencies, we all tend to base our reaction and our placement based upon what previous attacks saw.
I, as someone who's not an infrastructure expert or in law enforcement, I do not think they quantified, prepared for the deranged behavior of someone going on the sidewalk completely to circumvent it. There's going to be a lot of a lot of analysis in the after action on this as far as what should be done different.
I mean, we're already having conversations about what infrastructure is going to look like in areas like the French Quarter going for particularly on Bourbon Street, because it may be that you'll see bollards in the middle of sidewalks as well.
And I mean, that would be something that we have to adjust both on a on a local, national, and international level because just like we learn from these attacks, terrorists learn from these attacks. And I mean, I'm sure that there's people somewhere planning an attack somewhere else who are like, well, this guy figured out if you just completely disregard humanity and immediately plow on the sidewalk, you can do other things.
And it's a lot. And a part of what we're trying to do locally is really process everything that happened and make this a safer and better outcome going forward. But you're right. There's -- that's an unanswered large question like, the bollards weren't there. A car was there. I know that in other parts of the country, New York's a great example. They protect hardened targets with, like, trucks, like --
KEILAR: Yeah.
MORRELL: Like garbage trucks or with larger or sand trucks or the like. Those weren't there. And that's going to be a question that's going to have to be answered with our state, local, and federal partners in the after action.
So that's certainly, I can't -- I can and will not discount that that was not what it could or should have been, but we're kind of dealing with the reality of now and the reality of trying to make sure the city's secure going forward. But, I mean, those are unanswered questions That will be answered in
the weeks to come. But today, we don't have the answers.
KEILAR: And it doesn't --
MORRELL: Not as city council, anyway.
KEILAR: Yeah. It doesn't bring anyone back, right now, but these are important questions for the future. We know that New Orleans has had issued issues with people who may be inebriated and driving, for instance, going down streets and those bollards, maybe something that would protect against something like that.
Council Member, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it.
MORRELL: Thank you. Appreciate it.
KEILAR: And so when we come back, we are going to go live to New Orleans for the latest on this investigation into what has just turned out to be a horrific attack. But as the city reels from the carnage, its police chief is telling residents there is a way to get through.
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[23:40:00]
ANNE KIRKPATRICK, NEW ORLEANS POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: I promise you as the chief of police of this city, this city has been tried by fire before. But fire purifies, fire makes things stronger. We have a plan. We know what to do. We are going to get these people. There is a path forward.
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KEILAR: A quick update on the breaking news story out of New Orleans. The death toll has now reached at least 15 after a truck plowed into a crowd of revelers celebrating the new year on Wednesday morning.
Dozens of others were injured and a warning that the video you're about to see is disturbing. The video shows the scene just moments after the attack when the suspect was killed by police.
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KEILAR (voice-over): He has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas and an army veteran. Officials say he made a number of videos before the attack on his route from Texas to Louisiana talking about his divorce and his plans to kill his family, but he said he then changed his plans and decided to join ISIS. The FBI believes he did not act alone.
[23:45:00] DUNCAN: We are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism. We're aggressively running down all of the leads to identify the possible subject's associates. We're working to ensure that there is no further threat. We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates.
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KEILAR: Let's now head over to New Orleans where CNN's Ivan Rodriguez is standing by. And, Ivan, I think there's been -- we've gotten mixed messages quite frankly from the beginning from the FBI and local officials.
I just spoke with a council member who said that there may have been an impression that there were people who were placing IEDs in the French quarter. And it now may be, I don't know -- I don't want to use -- I don't want to paraphrase, but I think I'm going to have to here. And it may be something different that it's possible it was someone who is maybe just looking at some kind of explosive device.
But there really is this question now of were there accomplices, who were they, and it's a little muddy.
RODRIGUEZ: No. It definitely is, because we were sort of going off of that information for a couple of hours of they were reviewing footage, 3 men, 1 woman, we were told, possibly placing those IEDs throughout the French Quarter area. And then, it was sort of corrected that, you know what? It turns out that in fact, it doesn't appear to be that case.
But, Brianna, I think just that message alone right there sort of portrays what we're seeing even just here. I mean, I can tell you from just standing here for the last several hours now, we've witnessed sort of a heightened sense of security from law enforcement in the area. Just from this corner, we've sort of noticed a couple of times now where officers have sort of beelined to specific people, asking them questions.
Not exactly sure. Couldn't pick up the that were had between officers and those people, but they definitely are on a on a heightened sense of security here, making sure that no one is really doing anything that might seem out of place. It is just -- you'd really get that sense here, that people really are paying attention. Because right across the street, is where that white truck made that right turn into Bourbon and then continued its path slamming into a multitude of people.
And, Brianna, the last time we spoke, I mentioned a former Princeton football player. I wanted to share a little bit more about that story from him, because we heard from his sister. His name was Tiger Beck, 27 year old from Lafayette. His sister, said that, quote, "Evil will not prevail. I was heartbroken." She said the last time she heard from her brother was around 1:30 in the morning, saying happy New Year, and that he was supposed to fly back home to New York City, Wednesday morning. So now, you know, the heartbreak that one family there has to deal with. But it's -- it's those stories that we're going to continue to hear now as we learn a little bit more about the dozens of victims, those who were injured, and also those who were killed.
KEILAR: Yeah. These are people enjoying their night, enjoying the beginning of the New Year. And I will just note, we see that big truck behind you blocking Bourbon Street. That was not there when this occurred. It was actually just a police vehicle that was there that this truck swerved around. So just something to note.
Ivan, thank you so much for the update. We really do appreciate it. Live for us in New Orleans.
KEILAR: CNN Law Enforcement Contributor, Steve Moore, is a retired FBI supervisory special agent. He is with us now from Los Angeles. Steve, what do you make of this, the potential accomplices, versus are there accomplices? Where are we at this point?
STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think you're going to have to come up with some evidence to show that there were accomplices or you may be spinning your wheels. This is something you do in every terrorist investigation, at least in the FBI. You have to determine whether anybody else was involved. And so if they are involved, we need to see video. We need to see people, materially assisting in the plot, things like that. And it's very complicated.
Then you try to figure out whether this there was assistance from overseas or whether it was self-radicalized and essentially a lone wolf. There are all these moving pieces. And you can't -- while you may have a thought on it on what is most likely, you can't just dig in on one. You have to hit all of them at the same time and hit them all as hard.
KEILAR: What do you think about this though? We were told, at this, update from law enforcement, including the FBI, saying that in addition to this truck, which had entered the French quarter with explosives, which by the way the driver was not able to detonate, that there were separate IEDs that had been placed in the French Quarter. They, law enforcement rendered those safe, so they detonated them.
[23:50:00]
Do you have any questions about those IEDs and who may have placed them and whether that indicates that there was an accomplice. I mean, help us understand, what police may be dealing with here. Talking to a council member, it just seemed very confusing about whether someone may have been placing or looking at a at an IED.
MOORE: Yeah. And you can't just go on, you know, secondhand information. You have to know what was in those. And sometimes people can think some things in IED, especially in the heat of the moment, when there are bodies on the ground and you see something that could be, you tend to move towards that conclusion. But you have to find out what was in there. And if it is an IED that was related to the individual in the truck, then it would probably have similar characteristics, a similar detonation device, similar power, whether it was battery operated or some other way. It would have the same kind of propellent or explosives, whether they're using gas containers. The bombs would match because people don't sit there and say, oh, I'm going to -- I found a way to make a bomb. Now after I make this one, I'm going to find another way. No, they're all identical. And that's the other thing that's going on.
Is they're going to look at the IEDs that were in the Tesla in Las Vegas and see if maybe they were similar. Because these things were not using, as far as I can tell, high or even low explosives. When they were speaking about them so vaguely it seems to me that they were highly improvised, that they were using some type of fireworks to detonate gas canisters, at least in the Las Vegas incident. And if we find that those are similar then you got a big problem.
KEILAR: Yeah. Camp fuel, rather rudimentary, as it has been described to us from sources in the Las Vegas case. Steve Moore, great to have you. Thank you so much for your insights.
MOORE: Thank you.
KEILAR: The attacker used a truck as a weapon against people on a crowded street that is incredibly popular with tourists in New Orleans. As CNN's Brian Todd reports, using vehicles and terror attacks has become more common here in recent years. A warning that some of the video you're about to see is disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One witness to the New Orleans attack says she can't unhear the screams of the victims.
STRICKLIN: I remember the screeching and him gunning the car and the impact and the screams. Like I said, the screams of those girls. I mean, I don't know that I'll be able to forget that.
TODD (voice-over): The kind of horror that many cities have experienced in recent years when attackers turned vehicles into weapons. Just a few days before this Christmas, a car slams into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing at least 5 people, injuring more than 200. The suspect, a doctor originally from Saudi Arabia who'd expressed anti-Muslim far right views.
Like Magdeburg and New Orleans, other cities have experienced horrific vehicle attacks during holidays. November 2021, a suspect with a long criminal history drives an SUV through the annual Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, killing 6, injuring more than 60.
Berlin, December 2016, a tractor trailer rams into a crowd at a bustling Christmas market, killing at least 12 people, injuring dozens of others. The suspect, a rejected asylum seeker, was later killed in a shootout with police in Italy. And the deadliest vehicle attack ever, July 14, 2016, Bastille Day in Nice, France. A Tunisian born French resident drives a 20 ton truck nearly a mile through a crowded seaside promenade. 86 people killed, more than 200 others wounded. ISIS claimed responsibility.
Why do these vehicle attacks often seem more deadly than other tactics?
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: A vehicle attack doesn't require any special training. You just ride a vehicle, buy a vehicle, and use it as a weapon. Secondly, just like school shooters look at Columbine or other famous school shootings and kind of obsess about them and terrorists examine other terrorists, and they say, well, what worked? Clearly vehicle rammings have work.
TODD (voice-over): October 2017, an Islamic extremist from Uzbekistan jumps a curb in a rental truck in Manhattan, drives down a bicycle path along the West Side Highway, and kills 8 people. Authorities found a note near the truck claiming the attack was in the name of ISIS.
[23:55:00]
A couple of months earlier, a domestic extremist, a white nationalist, slammed his vehicle into a crowd of counter protesters at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing one woman and injuring almost 20 others.
Analyst Peter Bergen says vehicle attacks with their blood curdling optics have a distinct psychological impact.
BERGEN: Sadly, there is a short term effect where it terrorizes people. People are worried about going out in places where there are a lot of people gathered.
TODD (on-camera): Security analysts say one somewhat common characteristic of these vehicle attacks is that many of them took place in cities where tourism is a key part of the local economy. One official with the New Orleans Tourism Association says it's too early to tell what effect this attack will have on tourism in that city, which was still trying to recover from tourism declines stemming from the COVID pandemic and even from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Thanks to Brian for that report. And I'm Brianna Keilar, thank you so much for joining me this hour. Our breaking news coverage continues with Paula Newton in Atlanta.
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