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FBI Gives Update On Deadly New Orleans Attack. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired January 05, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Enemy from within. A deadly terrorist attack raising fears about homegrown terror. What are we learning about the threat? And how will Trump's national security picks confront it?
New Republican Senator Jim Banks is ahead and then Democratic Senator Mark Kelly.
And flashback. On the January 6 --
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FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta.
I want to take you straight to a first conference out of New Orleans. Here, we're listening to the governor with an update on the New Year's deadly attack.
GOV. JEFF LANDRY (R), LOUISIANA: -- them in this through this time.
You know, every day Americans and some -- and one foreign citizens' lives have been shattered and lost. Every Americans like Kareem Badawi, 18 years old from Baton Rouge, who's a freshman in Alabama, majored in mechanical engineering, played football at Episcopal School last year and whose friend Travis said it was never about Kareem. It was always about others, and that's what made him unique.
Like Tiger Bech, 27, from Lafayette, who played football at Princeton, worked for Seaport Global in the capital markets. And I quote his brother Jack, who said, I can't wait to show you the big things I will do in this world. To tell my kids about you and the man you shaped me to be. And his mom, Virginia, who says that evil will not prevail.
Like Drew Dauphin, 28, from Montgomery, Alabama. A graduate of Auburn University in 2023 was with his younger brother Matthew during the attack, whose family has described him as having lit up every room he entered and how his smile was infectious.
Like Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, of Gulfport, Mississippi, who is going to begin nursing school this month. Whose mom, Melissa, begged her not to go out on Bourbon Street that night, who has been quoted as one of the most amazing persons who loved everyone and a light to be around, said Zion Parsons, who was with her during the attack.
Like Billy DiMaio, 25, from New Jersey, a star student and lacrosse player who worked for Audacy in New York as an account executive, whose family and friends have described him as having an unwavering work ethic and positive attitude and kindness.
Like Hubbard Gauthreaux, 21, of Gretna, who graduated from Shaw High School in 2021. An incredible athlete with a passion for baseball since before he could walk, it was said. His family said he had a sense of humor that was infectious, and he brightened up the room that he walked into.
Like Reggie Hunter, 37, of Prairieville, who leaves behind two sons, Landon, 11, and Christian, 18 months old, whose cousin Travis said to know Reggie was to love him, who always was in a good mood.
Like Terrence Kennedy, who was one of nine siblings, who has been said has always had a way of being comical and been loving and kind. And it's just that his sister Jacqueline said.
Like Nicole Perez, 27, of Metairie, who's a mother of a four year old Maleo (ph), and is described by her uncle Raul as loving and caring, a person very dedicated to her job and to her son.
Like Edward Pettifer of London, England, who worked as a director at an executive search firm who had relations to the royal family. His family described him as a wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew and friend.
You know, it is tragically ironic that his father has for over 20 years in the service of the British military, fought terrorism and terrorists on their soil so we don't have to fight them on ours. I want to thank him for his service to the free world. And I'm deeply sorry, as all the other families, for their loss.
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Like Latasha Polk of New Orleans, a mother of a 14 year old, a certified nursing assistant, whose family believes that Latasha would have wanted the city to turn out in celebration but tinged with grief, but not in fear.
Like Brandon Taylor, 43, who leaves behind a fiance, Heather, who was with him during this nightmare, but who has described him as unique.
Matthew Tenedorio of Slidell, a fiber optics and video professional at the Superdome and the Smoothie King Center. His mom says we will miss everything about him, his beautiful face, his laugh, and how she loves him.
And then finally, like Elliot Wilkinson, 40, of Slidell, who had four siblings and whose brother said, if you didn't have a shirt on your back, he would try to find one to put on you. No matter what, he was always looking to care for others.
You know, each of these victims has family and friends who have to live with the tragedy and the nightmare of these events. Over the last 48 hours, we have all been focused on addressing the needs of each of these victims' families and to ensure that they are properly honored.
We began on January the 2nd by ordering all the flags in the state at half staff from sunrise to sunset. I have personally called into each of the victims' families to ensure that they are receiving the support and the answers to any questions that may have remained unanswered.
I issued an executive order declaring a period of mourning for each of these victims on each of the following days, under which flags of all the state buildings, schools and universities will be at half staff. I requested, and Dr. Cade Brumley, our superintendent of education, has called for a moment of silence in all of our public schools, beginning on Monday at 9:00 a.m.
So on Monday, January 6th will be in remembrance of Kareem Badawi. On Tuesday, January 7th will be in remembrance of Tiger Bech. On Wednesday, January 8th will be in remembrance of Drew Dauphin.
On Thursday, January 9th, in remembrance of Nikyra Dedeaux. On Friday, January 10th, in remembrance of Billy DiMaio. On Mon -- then again on Monday, January 13th, Hubert Gauthreaux.
On January 14th, Reggie Hunter. On January 15th, Nicole Perez. On January 16th, Terry Kennedy. On January 17th, Matthew Tenedorio.
Then again starting the following week on Monday, January 20th, Edward Pettifer. January 21st, Latasha Polk. January 22nd, Brandon Taylor. And then hopefully concluding on January 23rd in remembrance of Elliot Wilkinson.
We have been working side by side with the Orleans Parish sheriff's office crime reparations unit, the New Orleans police department's victim witness unit, the FBI special victims unit, the Orleans Parish district attorneys office victims and witness unit, to ensure that these victims get the answers and the support that they need.
I also called on a time of prayer from Thursday and culminating today, specifically asking pastors and clergy and parishioners here in Louisiana and across the nation to unite in the prayer of victims and their families. We have been specifically tasked in assisting families with expediting the transportation of the deceased family members' home.
Each citizen's -- citizen of Louisiana's body was offered a Louisiana state police escort to the funeral home of their parish. Each of our out of state victims was either escorted to the state line or to the airport.
We are working again with the crime victims reparations board to ensure that the support they are entitled to is expedited. And the FBI will discuss more details of what they're doing in coordination to assist us with these victims.
[12:10:01] And I'll tell you what I've told each one of those families. I don't think there's a person up here that wouldn't love to return them to their families.
And so, we will continue to ensure that their tragic loss is not forgotten. And while we can do nothing to undo what has happened, we are committed to doing everything within our power to honor these victims and support their families and friends.
Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
CHRISTOPHER RAIA, FBI DEPUTY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Good morning. Thank you for being here today with the FBI and our partners.
Today, in the interests of transparency, we're going to give you the latest update on the FBI's investigation into the Bourbon Street attack on New Year's Day.
First and foremost, as the governor has already done, I know I speak for the FBI and all of the first responders involved in this when I say we do this for the victims and their families, even though we know that nothing we do will take away their pain and grief. What we can and are doing is investigating every detail of this attack to find answers. We are leaving no stone unturned.
Before I turn it over to FBI New Orleans SAC Lyonel Myrthil, I'm going to talk a little bit about the overall global and national counterterrorism threat, as I think it's important to understand that those threats as it relates to went on, as it relates to what went on on New Year's day here in New Orleans.
Make no mistake: protecting the American people from terrorism remains the FBI's number one priority. The threats from international terrorism, domestic terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism are complex and persistent. And notably, they are all simultaneously elevated. You might have heard the director speak numerous times about him seeing all the red lights flashing right now.
We continually face threats from foreign terrorist organizations, violent extremists across the ideological spectrum, and criminal actors that aim to bring violence and harm to the United States. During these past few years, lone actors or small cells of individuals who typically radicalize to violence online and who primarily use easily accessible weapons, have posed the greatest terrorism threat to our homeland.
Additionally, for the past several years, the FBI has provided intelligence to our law enforcement partners, highlighting that ISIS calls for vehicle ramming attacks. This is a tactic that has been used for many years to conduct deadly attacks on U.S. soil and in other countries. Lone actors, as you all I'm sure know, or aware, present a particular challenge to law enforcement and intelligence because they are difficult to identify, investigate, and disrupt, especially when the radicalization and communication with other like minded individuals happens online, as is believed to be the case with the New Orleans attacker, Shamsud-Din Jabbar.
Over the last year, we saw multiple -- multiple plots in the U.S. that we're able to -- that we were able to disrupt along with our state, local and federal law enforcement partners. We simply cannot do it alone. Those include plots in September and October in Oklahoma City and New York City, respectively.
The FBI continues to work tirelessly to combat the threat of terrorism, and that includes constantly working with and communicating with our state, local and federal partners, whether that is sharing intelligence and information or day to day coordination of investigation. And in New Or -- and in New Orleans, that is exactly what the FBI and our partners have done since day one.
As it relates to this investigation, all investigative details and evidence that we have now still support that Jabbar acted alone here in New Orleans. We have not seen any indications of an accomplice in the United States, but we are still looking into potential associates in the U.S. and outside of our borders. The case is still very early on, as is with the case with any complex terrorism investigation, as we uncover new leads, receive tips from the public, examine electronic devices and interview witnesses. The information as we know it evolves into a clearer picture and provides more answers.
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We have a clearer picture today than we did even two days ago. We are much further along than we were previously. I'd also like to take a moment to thank the public for your help so far.
You have provided tips that have greatly enhanced this investigation. I don't think the majority of you all in the public know just how critical your information has been for the FBI in high profile investigations like this one, your tips and information have been instrumental in the most significant terrorism investigations that have occurred in the last 20 years. So thank you on behalf of the FBI.
The FBI continues to surge resources from across the country to assist the New Orleans field office. In addition to FBI special agents and personnel based here in New Orleans, more than 200 additional personnel have been brought in to assist in this investigation in order to process evidence support victims and investigate leads and tips.
Personnel support includes, as I stated a few days ago, special agent victim specialists, evidence technicians, specially trained crisis management personnel and intelligence analysts. Additionally, the entire counterterrorism division at headquarters, along with other headquarters divisions and the FBI's critical incident response group, including our hostage rescue team, continue to work around the clock supporting New Orleans and the other field offices involved in this investigation.
We are not done investigating. In fact, our work has only begun. The FBI will continue to dig in and investigate, to learn all that we can about this despicable attack on behalf of the victims and for their loved ones.
Now, I'd like to turn it over to SAC Lyonel Myrthil, who is going to go into more specifics of the investigation -- Lyonel.
Thank you. Chris.
LYONEL MYRTHIL, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE OF FBI IN NEW ORLEANS: My name is Lyonel Myrthil. I'm the special agent in charge of FBI in New Orleans.
I want to thank you and the hundreds of other FBI personnel and our partners with our local, state and federal agencies who've been working tirelessly beside us. FBI in New Orleans deeply mourns the loss of those who tragically lost their lives and extend our heartfelt prayers to those who were injured and offer our unwavering support to those who endured the traumatic experience of witnessing such a devastating act of terror.
Today, we want to focus on filling in some of the gaps and giving you a greater understanding of the planning that went into this horrible attack by Shamsud-Din Jabbar. We are also sharing videos showing Jabbar placing the IEDs on Bourbon Street, and videos he took as he plotted this hideous, hideous attack.
Thanks to information provided by you, the public, this investigation is crossing state and international borders as our agents follow leads in Houston, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia, Tampa, Florida, and internationally.
FBI Houston has recovered evidence at his home there, and the work now shifts to our specialists at the FBI laboratories, interviews are being conducted with hundreds who have been identified as knowing key pieces of this complex, evolving case. We -- we have also tracked that Jabbar traveled to Cairo, Egypt, from June 22nd until July 3rd of 2023.
A few days later, he flew to Ontario, Canada on July 10th and returned to the U.S. on July 13th on 2023. Our agents are getting answers as to where he went, who he met with, and how those trips may or may not tie into his actions here in our city in New Orleans.
We've also discovered that Jabbar made at least two trips to New Orleans in the months prior to the attacks, one in October and the other a month later, in November of 2024. From what we now know, Jabbar stayed at a rental home in New Orleans beginning October 30th, 2024.
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He was in town at least two days. During that time, Jabbar using Meta glasses recorded a video as he rode through the French Quarter on a bicycle. This video shows Jabbar during that trip in October with his Meta glasses.
As we continue to learn more about that trip, we ask anyone who may have seen or interacted with him to contact us now. For more information, Meta glasses appear to look like regular
glasses, but they allow a user to record videos and photos hand free. They also allow the user to potentially livestream through their video.
Jabbar was wearing a pair of Meta glasses when he conducted the attack on Bourbon Street, but he did not activate the glasses to livestream his actions that day.
Thanks to information that is coming in from the public, we now know Jabbar was here in New Orleans. Also on November 10th, but we are still piecing together the details of that trip. Moving closer to the day of the attacks, Jabbar is seen on December 31st at one of multiple gun stores he visited in Texas leading up to the attack.
As we go through the timeline, times we provide are approximate. Jabbar then stopped at a business in Texas where he purchased the 1 or 1 of the ice chests he would later use to hide the IEDs. Jabbar is estimated to have entered Louisiana on December 31st, 2024 at approximately 2:30 p.m., he rented a vehicle that was seen again in Gonzales, Louisiana, around 9:00 p.m. on December 31st.
By 10:00 p.m., home camera footage shows Jabbar unloading the white pickup truck in New Orleans outside of the Mandeville street rental home in the Saint Roch neighborhood of New Orleans.
Just under three hours later, at 12:41 a.m. on New Year's morning, Jabbar parked the truck and walked to Royal and Governor Nicholls Street.
Jabbar placed the first IED in the cooler at Bourbon and Saint Peter Street, at 1:53 a.m. Someone on Bourbon Street who we have no reason to believe was involved, dragged the cooler a block to Bourbon and Orleans, where our teams found it after the attack.
Jabbar placed the second IED in a bucket type cooler at 2:20 a.m. on Bourbon and Toulouse Streets. In the videos, you see Jabbar wearing the long brown coat we showed you in a photo released earlier. That coat was recovered in the rented F-150.
At 3:15 a.m., Jabbar used his pickup truck as a lethal weapon before crashing into the construction equipment and will stop by the brave men and women of NOPD.
Shortly after 5 a.m., a fire was reported at the rental home in the Mandeville Street location in New Orleans and the New Orleans fire department found explosive devices on scene after entering the home.
As we released yesterday, we strongly believe Jabbar was solely responsible for the fire on the Mandeville Street in New Orleans. We determined that he set the fire before heading to Bourbon Street, based on the ATF's investigation.
I'd like to bring up special agent in charge of the ATF field division, Joshua Jackson, to address the details of their investigation and to explain the origin of the IEDs and the materials Jabbar used in them.
SAC Jackson?
JOSHUA JACKSON, ATF SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, NEW ORLEANS FIELD OFFICE: Thank you. Good morning. As stated, my name is Joshua Jackson. I'm the special agent in charge for the New Orleans field division.
And I want to share with the media some updates regarding the origin and cause of the fire at the Mandeville Street Address in New Orleans. We'll update you on information we developed with the firearms that were recovered from the scene, as well as discuss the explosive material that was recovered in Houston and here in New Orleans at the Mandeville Street address, and I kind of close out with some comments about our victim witness coordinators.
As to the fire, it was determined by the investigators that Jabbar drove from Houston to New Orleans by himself throughout his entire time at that rental location in New Orleans, he was the only one seen coming and going from that location.
He left that location at 12:15 a.m., the day of the attack. And that -- and that's when he set the fire. We know this because at 12:17, the next thermostat converted over from heat to cool through the whole time. And during his stay, the weather had been cold and the heat was running inside that residence. It changed roughly two minutes after he left because the thermostat indicated that the temperature was rising inside the residence, and it tried to keep up with the fire that was growing inside.
Let me explain what happened with the fire. He used an open flame and the linen closet area next to the washer and dryer in a closed off hallway and entered into -- into the residence. This hallway leads into different rooms of the house bedrooms, the front room, the kitchen.
Using this open flame and the linen area, this caused the fire to grow. He also set a half gallon of accelerant gasoline and a plastic gasoline container in that hallway. He also poured accelerant in different rooms throughout the house. We believe he did this, and his hope was to burn the entire house down and hide evidence of his crimes.
As the fire grew in this closed off area, it eventually ran out of oxygen and fuel, and it smothered itself before it spread to the accelerants that were placed in the other rooms. That's why the house did not burn down.
At 5:18, neighbors smelled the smelled smoke in the air, and they are the ones who contacted 911. And that's when New Orleans fire department showed up at this residence and put out the smoldering fire that was there. And that's when they observed the materials inside the house and contacted FBI and ATF, and we secured that location.
As far as the firearms that have been recovered in this investigation, it was a semi-automatic pistol that was used by Jabbar and a semi- automatic rifle. The pistol was a nine millimeter and the rifle was 308 caliber.
Conducting ATF agent traces, we determined -- we did make contact with the individual who completed a private sale of the rifle on November 19th, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. This individual, based on our investigation, does not know Jabbar. This was a chance encounter, and having this private sale transaction in Texas, there's no way that this individual knew that Jabbar was radicalized or had any sort of awareness that this attack was imminent. I also want to preface that private sale transactions like this in Texas are legal.
Additional firearms that were recovered from the scene, and I'm going to call them privately made silencers. And I say that that we're calling that that because our firearms ammunition technology division, they still need to make a determination on these devices to ensure that they actually reduce the sound of a firearm to a degree that it can be technically classified as a silencer.
But for the ease of public consumption for you all to understand what was -- what was recovered, what was recovered was a privately made silencer on the rifle that Jabbar was using in an attempt to muffle the sound of that rifle as he fired it. We also recovered a privately made silencer inside the Mandalay -- Mandeville Street address, along with the explosives material.
Now, there's been reports in the media about the explosive material that was recovered. That is something that is only found overseas. I want to provide more information. The explosive material recovered at the Mandeville Street address was field tested by a chemical identifier, by bomb techs with ATF and FBI. This is a field test, tested as r-salt. R-salt is very similar in look, texture and chemical makeup as RDX, which is all readily common and available right here in the United States.
These same field tests were done in Houston at Jabbar residence, and that tested as true RDX. The FBI lab will conduct additional tests of this material, which we believe will turn out to be commonly found explosives right here in the United States.
Now, what is different about this device that is somewhat unique, and it goes more to the inexperience and of Jabbar.
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R-salt and RDX typically need a detonator to set it off. He did not have access to the detonator, so he used an electric match in its place to try to set off the explosive material. That is the only thing that's unique about the IEDs.
IEDs themselves, how they were designed, functioned, something that our bomb techs with ATF and FBI have seen, it's not novel. What was different is he didn't use the right, the correct device to set it off. And that is just indicative of his inexperience and lack of understanding of how that material might be set off.
Last comments are very important. I know that victims and family, that is -- that is the focus that's why were doing this job. That's why we're going -- spending hours and searching resources. ATF has victim witness coordinators that are working hand in hand with all the victim resource specialists, and they're going to remain on the ground, engaged throughout services as we continue to engage and connect with the victims and the families.
So our thoughts and prayers remain with them. Our focus and our energy remain with them in the city of New Orleans.
And with that, I'm going to turn it back over to SAC Myrthil.
MYRTHIL: Thank you, SAC Jackson.
When incidents like this happen, obviously the criminal investigation is important, but the FBI never loses sight of the devastating impact on victims and their families, helping them navigate the unthinkable is a task that we take on with a number of local, state and federal partners. It's a task that started hours within hours of the attack.
The work done by these professionals is done behind the scenes, as to not re-traumatize the people who did not ask to be part of this dark day in history. Today, our victim services response team and those very important partners are opening a family assistance center, which is a centralized location where victims and their loved ones can receive in-person information and assistance.
St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church on Elysian Fields has graciously -- graciously offered space for our professionals to provide services and also return hundreds of personal items left at the scene of the attack.
We started the process of returning these items within one day of the attack, knowing it's crucial to reunite these precious items to their loved ones.
The family assistance center will open at 1:00 this afternoon and offer services until 7:00 p.m. It will then begin operating Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. until we are certain we have provided everything we can to help those who need it.
I want to say thank you again to the community, to our city and to the victims and their loved ones. We cannot change what happened, but we are working tirelessly to determine how and why this happened here.
At this time, I would like to invite Mayor LaToya Cantrell to the platform.
MAYOR LATOYA CANTRELL (D), NEW ORLEANS: Good morning. Thanking our unified command here, all resources federal, state and local, focusing on our victims and our families.
From day one, we did not waver in regards to making sure again that our victims were a top priority in addition to their families, but also understanding that our victims also include our first responders, our businesses and employees as well. These services will be extended to all, and we do appreciate that. From being on the phone at the start of this, with the White House, with our president Joe Biden, in addition to AG Garland, the request was for victim services. So again, I just want to say thank you.
In addition to that, the city of New Orleans will welcome President Biden on tomorrow to demonstrate, one, his unwavering support of our victims, their families and the city of New Orleans.
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The city of New Orleans just continues to demonstrate its resilience and its love for its people, coming together in prayer and making sure that we're lifting our community up, our city, up every step of the way.
Our mission remains on recruiting, increased public safety as we move towards hosting major events in the city of New Orleans, whether that's Super Bowl or Mardi Gras and others to follow.
But with this, I have specifically requested through the White House that the city of New Orleans be assisted with getting a tactical expert in our city this week to map our city for target hardening measures, where and how.
These are requests that have been made by me specifically, and our New Orleans superintendent, Anne Kirkpatrick.
In addition to that, we have submitted a re-adjudication request for Mardi Gras to be removed from a tier two, upgraded to a tier one. This is something that we have been advocating for, for many years now. I can say since 2019, but we do believe that it will be processed.
This is something that the governor and I will have conversations with, with the president on tomorrow, and we will continue to push for a tier one rating for Mardi Gras.
I also want to, as we inform you on Friday, but on tomorrow, it starts our activation and infrastructure activation and preparation for the Super Bowl that's coming next month. You will see this activation and even in real time and as it unfolds again starting tomorrow. But throughout as we move towards February, the city of New Orleans will always remain focused on improving public safety measures. No doubt about that.
But on today, we're here to ensure that our victims, our families, our law enforcement officers, our businesses, our employees, our extended, the resources that they need to not only move through grief, but to get the support and the services that are so vitally important this day and really, days to come. There has been a fund set up by the greater New Orleans foundation that will assist our victims as well, with resources.
That can be reached -- the information can be reached at gnof.org. I want to thank again all of our partners who have ensured that the resources are met with the need on the ground.
I also want to thank just the outpouring of support from residents, from cities, from countries around the world. I also have to thank my commissioner, Tanisha Stevens, the New Orleans Police Department, just ensuring that we're working in partnership and in real collaboration again to meet our people where they are.
But make no mistake about it, we are working collectively and around the clock and we will not stop. I have full confidence that the city of New Orleans not only is safe, we will continue to be safe days, weeks and months ahead as we prepare again to host national events in our city. Thank you.
MYRTHIL: Thank you, Mayor.
We want to sincerely thank the public for all the information we've had so far. And again, encourage anyone who may have interacted with Jabbar to call us at 1800-CALL-FBI or send digital tips to www.FBI.gov/bourbonstreetattack.
At this time, we will take questions.
Lady on the right.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) with Fox 8 here.
Mayor Cantrell, this is regarding looking forward to security upgrades for our big events, including Super Bowl. But it's being reported that those new bollard systems that will be brought to Bourbon Street are not strong enough to stop an attack like that of New Year's Day. First of all, is that true? And if so, are there plans to revise that before the game?
CANTRELL: Okay, so as it relates to and as I mentioned, we are asking for a tactical expert to be in the city of New Orleans this week to go over all of our plans that have been put in place by a unified command that we've been working on this literally for months on end.
So, what we're wanting to do is to ensure that that boots on the ground with that expert advice to determine whether or not these bollards that you're talking about are -- are sufficient. We're also asking if they're not, we're looking for, okay, how and what and where do they need to be placed? So, this is a work in progress, and we're committed to doing everything necessary to ensure public safety measures, hardening, hardening, target areas in preparation not only for Super Bowl but for Mardi Gras as well.
REPORTER: There's no way for the city to know now if that new upgrade would be strong enough to stop an attack like this?
CANTRELL: So what I will say is that an expert opinion is something that will assure us that what were installing meets the need, but if not, we're not stopping there. But what we do know is that the bollards that are being placed now is a part of the Super Bowl package, and the installation has been nearing completion and will be completed in weeks to come.
Now, the thorough assessment that I'm asking for will determine if, in fact there are they are strong enough. So I can say with a surety that's the case. But an expert will be able to do so and we'll respond accordingly. REPORTER: Mayor, you mentioned that you're going to bring in this
expert and you want them to kind of look over everything. We have parades that are going to be starting on Monday. What immediately can be done to make sure that those parades and the people who attend those parades are going to be secure?
CANTRELL: So what we'll immediately be done is what you've seen us demonstrate, even hosting Sugar Bowl in the city of New Orleans, hardening a target areas is something that we will continue to do and deploy our assets accordingly.
REPORTER: Including the parts of these parades that are going to be happening on Monday.
CANTRELL: Absolutely. I mean, this is about making sure that all assets are deployed strategically again to harden any target areas for public safety. We know we demonstrated that for Sugar Bowl, we'll continue to demonstrate that in preparation for parades, Super Bowl, as well as Mardi Gras.
REPORTER: Thank you, right here. Kathy Park with NBC News.
I have a question for someone on the investigation and the images that we just saw specifically with the Meta glasses. Where were the glasses were covered and did Jabbar wear them during the entire timeline of the attack?
MYRTHIL: Yeah. So, the glasses were recovered on the person of Jabbar, following him being neutralized by NOPD. And we believe he was wearing them throughout the -- throughout the evening.
REPORTER: He was recording the entire time.
MYRTHIL: So we don't have any indication that he was actually recording, but he was wearing those glasses.
REPORTER: You know, just a quick follow up question. You mentioned there were other cities. Atlanta, Tampa. Can you dive a little bit deeper as to why those cities were mentioned?
MYRTHIL: Yes. So Houston, Texas, of course, is where Jabbar resided. We are looking at his travel within the United States. So he has traveled to areas within the Atlanta area, as well as areas within the Tampa area. And of course -- excuse me?
REPORTER: Could there be more arrests?
MYRTHIL: We -- at this time, we don't have any indication if there will be any additional arrests. But there are also potential witnesses, potential -- potential individuals that may provide information at these locations. So at this point, we do want to make sure that we are speaking to all those individuals where he may have visited.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rafael Romo, CNN. Regarding the trip to Egypt, do we know whether it was the first time that he traveled to a country? Did he have any family or acquaintances in the places that explained the trip? Or do we know at this point who he met with?
MYRTHIL: Yeah, at this time, we're still trying to determine the answers to that. That is exactly what our priority is for those international trips. Essentially, we're looking at, who has he encountered during those trips? Who is he meeting with, or has he traveled while in those specific countries? And whether or not any visits to those countries may or may not have any indication as to the reasons behind this attack in our city?
ROMO: If I can follow up, do you know at this point whether he received any financial assistance from anybody to be able to finance that trip? In other words, is it probably too early to rule out that he might have gotten assistance from a group or a foreign entity at this point?
MYRTHIL: Yeah. At this time, we can't -- we can't determine whether or not he received any assistance. We do know that he was employed, and at the time of his attack.
[12:45:05]
But at this point, we can't rule out whether or not he received any type of assistance.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).
Can you explain his trip to Cairo on the way back? You mentioned that he had traveled through Ontario on his way back to the States. What was the reason for that?
MYRTHIL: Yeah. So we don't know the reason behind that. And again, this is one -- one of the items that we are looking to get some clarity on as to the purpose and reasoning behind each of those individual trips. So we have legal attache offices in each one of those countries. The FBI does, but we are working with our law enforcement partners as well as our government partners as well, to determine those answers.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) speak to someone giving him some sort of instruction? How did he get his hands on -- on this more rare explosive?
MYRTHIL: Yeah, I'll defer that question to SAC Jackson.
JACKSON: Yeah. So again, this is a field test that was done in the field, right? So, all this material is going to be tested at the FBI lab. We believe when the chemists and the lab examines the material, it will be true RDX. R-salt is not as common as RDX, but there's precursor materials at the house in Houston where he made this material.
So the field test is preliminary. Let the FBI lab confirm the material. But again, these materials are available here, and at this time, there's no indication that he received this material from overseas.
REPORTER: Thank you.
REPORTER: Yeah. Brittney Verner, local WDSU, NBC affiliate.
So do you think that by the person leaving before the taken into custody and potentially explored his plan of what was happening?
MYRTHIL: Yeah, I have no indication if that either deterred his plan or not. We do know that those individuals appear to be unwitting as to what was inside the coolers when they were moving the coolers, or looking inside the coolers, but we don't have any indication that whether or not that deterred his plan.
REPORTER: And as a follow up, you initially said that it was other people's you believed to be a part of (INAUDIBLE) whoever moved the cooler or anything was in regards to this.
MYRTHIL: We don't have any indication that the individuals that moved the cooler were accomplices or witting individuals. From what we've observed so far and what we've gathered through our investigation is that they were unwitting individuals who moved the cooler from location to location, without knowledge of what is in the cooler.
REPORTER: Driving it at all? Do you think he was driving it? Like, as far as it being, motorized and so forth?
MYRTHIL: No, the cooler was not motorized. The cooler was a standard square. There were two coolers, standard square cooler, as well as a circular ice cube cooler as well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right here.
REPORTER: Mike Perlstein, WWL Louisiana.
I have a question and a follow up if I could. The first question is you mentioned electronic mass instead of some kind of standard detonator. Why was that not employed? What foiled that? Was there a plan for him to use that? Does have a -- does it have a remote capability that somehow did not get used?
JACKSON: Yeah. Answer that question. So electric match or hobby switch are commonly available items that common citizens can get their hands on. A detonator is not something that a common citizen can get their hands on. That's why he chose electric match. It was readily available.
As far as the device that was recovered, the devices did have receivers attached to them with the explosive material. It was a transmitter that was recovered inside of Jabbar vehicle. So we believe that the transmitter did -- would have functioned and would have worked. But for New Orleans PD, putting him down before he could get access to that transmitter and set off the devices. REPORTER: And my follow up question is, we have heard about things
that Jabbar posted on social media, obviously threatening, in months and days before the attack and then in the hours.
Is there any intelligence capability, FBI or otherwise, that could have intercepted what he posted on social media?
MYRTHIL: That's a great question. The key here, when it comes to social media posts, we really rely on the -- you, the public, the individuals who are seeing these posts to report these posts. As you know, there are several privacy concerns regarding social media. So unless it's a publicly available online platform, we have to have a legal process in order to get into those -- those postings.
[12:50:10]
So really we rely on information from the public and information from concerned citizens.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) where he posted this and who may have seen it in advance?
MYRTHIL: Yeah, I don't know who -- who would have seen it in advance of the attack. He has, from our understanding, he's posted on a couple encrypted applications as well as on his own social media.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right here.
REPORTER: Yeah, Jack Burke (ph) with AP.
Do we have any indications as to why he chose New Orleans specifically to carry out?
MYRTHIL: No, we don't have any indication as to why he specifically chose New Orleans. Again, this is one of our -- our top priorities is to get an understanding as to not just on the day of the attacks, but the reasoning behind the two previous trips back in October as well as November. But that is a concern for us and a priority for us as well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right here.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).
I just wondered if there's any indication from the fire in Mandeville around about 5:00. If you had any idea of why he waited until 3:00 a.m. to carry out the attack.
JACKSON: No, I think the timeline -- the timeline is this. So what occurred was he left the Mandeville Street address in New Orleans at 12:15 a.m., right before he left the residence. He already used an open flame to start a fire in the linen closet. The fire is burning, and we know that because the thermostat converts from heat, heating the home to cooling the home even though its cold outside and its trying to compensate for the temperature in the house, elevating from the fire being inside. The fire extinguished itself at some point after that because it was
put in a closed area where it ran out of oxygen and fuel and it smothered itself. At 5:18, a citizen, a neighbor down the street, smelled smoke in the air. And that's when they called 911. And the fire department showed up. And then we all went over there at that point.
So the timeline is he set it at 12:15 when he left it, it lit and it went for some time. It smothered itself at some point after 12:17. And when the fire department arrived, they put out the smoldering fire.
REPORTER: As a follow up to that. I mean, it's safe to say that he wouldn't wreak more havoc sooner than 3:00 a.m. You don't have any idea why he waited those few hours and leaving the house and (INAUDIBLE).
JACKSON: No, the way the way that accelerants were placed around the house. His intention was for the whole house to go up. It could have been.
It could have been a distraction. You know, he's not here to explain himself on that, but it could have been done as a distraction to have resources ushered that way. But again, the way that the accelerant was set up in the house, in the different rooms, the intent was for the fire to spread and then potentially -- eventually engulfed the whole house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you very much, everybody. We appreciate it. I'd like to give you the information about where you can find the videos. You can go to FBI.gov/bourbonstreet updates, or go to our FBI YouTube page.
Thank you, everyone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta.
You've been watching a press conference coming out of New Orleans there. And we heard the mayor of New Orleans say the president of the United States will be coming to New Orleans tomorrow to support the city and its victims. The mayor says that the visit will be an extension of a coming together in prayer for the city still in mourning after this New Year's truck attack, killing 14 people.
The mayor also said she has requested to the White House to provide a tactical expert this week to help harden the city ahead of that city, hosting the Super Bowl, as well as Mardi Gras activities.
As it pertains to law enforcement, we heard a lot coming from representatives of the FBI and the ATF saying they still believe that the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, acted alone and that he did use his vehicle to ram victims there on Bourbon Street.
But prior to that, the ATF and the FBI say they have meticulous detail and evidence as to all the events or some of the events that preceded that revealing in detail that they collected. Now, inside five days from that New Orleans attack, the FBI revealing that the suspect is shown on video, planning an even more expansive attack, potentially placing two ice chests packed with explosive devices around Bourbon Street.
[12:55:05]
Those devices, of course, were ultimately not detonated. The FBI also revealing that Jabbar surveilled his route along the New Orleans French Quarter area using a Meta glasses. He recorded some of that route, as you see here in this video that was revealed, and then he was also wearing those Meta glasses on the day of the attack, but did not record it.
And, they are still looking for information at any number of locations that he visited, going as far back as June of 2023. He visited Egypt. Investigators want to know if he interacted with anyone and with whom he may have interacted.
He also visited Atlanta and he did, prior to this attack, visit New Orleans at least a couple of times.
Joining me now on the phone, CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez.
Evan, you listened to a lot of that press conference, but also through your sourcing, you've heard other information. What can you add to this?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): -- to learn more about this, trying to figure out more about his travel, his, you know, what was he doing in Egypt? Who did he meet with there over the days that he spent there?
There's a mention. They mentioned a trip to Ontario, and also a trip to Tampa. Was -- was he considering attacks in Atlanta or Tampa before? Finally deciding on New Orleans? Those are obviously still big parts of this question.
What we also learned, though, you know, I think a significant thing here is that, you know, apparently he just wasn't very good at building these bombs because they would have been obviously, they would have been a lot worse of an attack if he had had the detonators that could have set this off. And those are the things that I think everybody is wondering.
WHITFIELD: Quite striking, Evan, that there was such meticulous planning that investigators are willing to reveal here from those trips that investigators still want to know who he may have interacted with on those trips. Still maintaining during this press conference that they believe he did act alone, down to also recovering evidence at his home in Texas that revealed the kinds of explosives that he used.
Some of the explosives, Evan, the investigators say some of the compounds can be, um, collected in the U.S. reportedly, we had many outlets had that. He also had compounds that were mysterious and that were foreign to collection in the U.S.
What strikes you about what the ATF says they have in terms of evidence found at the home that he rented there in New Orleans that he presumably tried to destroy in that fire, and also evidence consistent with what they located in his Texas address?
PEREZ: Yeah. Look, I mean, one of the things that really this -- the ATF part of this press conference, really emphasizes is how lucky we were in a number of fronts that the IEDs that he had built and put in different parts of Bourbon Street there of the French Quarter that he had, that those things did not go off.
We also learned that because he tried to destroy all the evidence, obviously, we're learning a lot more about what happened here because he tried to burn down the residence. He had set the fire before he walked out the door. And because of where he put it, which was in the linen closet, it ran out of oxygen and smothered itself over the next period of hours. So because, you know, the fire department isn't called for another couple of hours after this attack actually unfolded in New Orleans around 3:00 a.m. after 3:00 a.m.
So it's remarkable that the investigators got a few lucky breaks at public, got a couple of lucky breaks, including the fact that he didn't build the bomb just the way that it would have -- that it would have carried out even more destruction, perhaps killed many more people. And also just the fact that he wasn't able to destroy the evidence so that those two things are going to be very, very helpful to sort of solving a lot more of the questions that we have, Fredricka, at this hour.
WHITFIELD: Evan, thank you.
CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem also with me.
Juliette, lots of evidence here, lots of information, but still many unanswered questions. What are some of yours?
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So, three big takeaways here.
I think one, it is important that this -- they're still mentioning this foreign travel, Egypt and Canada, as well as some reconnaissance or some visits to the United States to other citites, I think that's just relevant because the FBI still finds it relevent. So, inparticular this foreign travel, we still think he organizes on. So in fact the pictures are pretty telling, he's by himself at this stage. I think the second issues that sort of the biggie that sort of comes out of this is, thatthese materials that everyone was worried about that might have been foreign sourced, that the FBI is now clarifying these are sort of typical United States explosives. There's a variant of them, he wasn't very good fortunately detonating things but I think it's important that people know that we're not talking now about some foreign substance, foreign explosive that comes in.
And then the third is just, look, I mean New Orleans can't stop. We've been talking about this about pushing forward while mourning. They've got the Super Bowl and the Mardi Gras and I thought it was imporant the mayor came in we're going to get new eyes to look at what we thought was clear, in particular for the Super Bowl in terms of sight hardening. But also the Mardi Gras, this is a very difficult event to secure just given how long it is and on the streets. And you heard mention of something called the CR2 to CR1, that sort of security speak for asking the Department of Homeland Security to elevate it. So, they are planning on moving forward and they clearly want to have tourists and businesses still invest and come to New Orleans.
WHITFIELD: Sure.
KAYYEM: And that's where it is.
WHITFIELD: Alright Juliette we're going to leave it there for now, see you again in about an hour. Hopefully you can join me in the CNN Newsroom because that's where I'm going to be an hour from now. For now, we are going to go to Fareed Zakaria at GPS. Thank you so much for being with us during this breaking news. Much more, straight ahead.
