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New Details on New Orleans Attacker; Biden to Attend Vigil in New Orleans; Fox Sports Hairstylist Sues Skip Bayless for Harassment. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired January 06, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Today, we're learning new details about the man who carried out the terrorist attack in New Orleans on New Year's Day. The FBI says Shamsud-Din Jabbar wore Meta smart glasses, as you can see in this video right here, in two visits to the city in the weeks leading up to the attacks. He wore them to record videos. He rode a bicycle through the French Quarter and to help plan his truck ramming attack that killed 14 people.

Investigators say before the attack, Jabbar said fire to his short- term rental house and he placed improvised explosive devices or IEDs on Bourbon Street. Investigators are also looking into Jabbar's trips to Egypt and Canada.

Today, President Biden will travel to New Orleans to attend a vigil for the victims. Let's discuss this now. Joining me is FBI -- former FBI counterterrorism agent Tim Clemente. Tim, what'd you think of those glasses that this terrorist was wearing? I mean, that adds a whole new wrinkle to all of us.

TIM CLEMENTE, FORMER FBI COUNTERTERRORISM AGENT: It does, Jim. I mean, it's part of his pre-attack surveillance where he was involved in the planning stage. And what's great about those glasses is if he walked around holding his phone up and using video camera of it or any other video device, it would be at least a little bit noticed. It wouldn't be unusual, but it would be a little bit noticed by people on the street there.

But the glasses allow him to take everything in, absorb all that data, review it later when he's alone, not have to worry about any POV. Because there's people in places that may not want to be on film and you turn your camera towards them, it might get people upset. But when you just look towards them with the glasses on, it allows you complete anonymity. And I think that's what he was looking for, data collection and anonymity.

ACOSTA: Yes. And the authorities have made it pretty clear, they think that he acted alone on New Year's Day and carrying out this attack. But there are these trips apparently to Canada and Egypt. That does -- that stands out as being highly unusual. What do you think of that?

CLEMENTE: I agree. It is unusual and it probably could be an indicator that maybe he was meeting with someone and that he was trying to gain their approval or maybe they endorsed what he was planning to do. I don't believe he was directly connected to ISIS. So, I'm not sure that we'll find there were any meetings with ISIS leaders or anything like that, but there may have been a radical person he was dealing with online that he met with, or something along those lines that encourage the behavior, if not the specific act.

ACOSTA: Yes. And five years ago, apparently a private security consulting firm warned of this kind of attack on Bourbon Street and called for the immediate installation of permanent effective barriers. Apparently, the barriers they have in place, if they had been even working properly, which they weren't, might not have stopped this from happening.

But how could that report be ignored? How could these kinds of recommendations be ignored? It sounds like just a glaring, you know, mistake on the part of the city of New Orleans.

[10:35:00]

CLEMENTE: Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like, Jim, and it's tragic and sad, but it's inexcusable. The problem is that how many days prior was there a vehicle attack at a Christmas market over in Europe? And so, it's not like this is something that was out of the ordinary. This has been a tool for many years now. I mean, Nice, France was the biggest such attack. But it's happened. It happened to Chelsea in New York. So, it's not unexpected and it's something that should have been prepared for.

Unfortunately, a vehicle blocking partially the end of the road on Bourbon Street was ineffective, and it left the sidewalks and the sides of the street completely open.

As you said, the technology exists, it should have been used, and those questions will hopefully be answered not necessarily before the rest of the investigation is done into the killings itself, but those questions do need to be answered and remedied in all future large events anywhere in the United States.

ACOSTA: Yes. I was going to say, Tim, if you are the mayor or the city council in a city that has a high traffic tourist area, it seems to me you would be looking at this right now, that it would be -- it would basically be inexcusable for a city official in any major city that has a tourist area like this to leave these kinds of areas accessible to somebody in a big pickup truck or something like that. I mean, that has -- that conversation has to happen now, I would think.

CLEMENTE: Everywhere it does, Jim. I mean, you look at the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California has bollards. It can be done. It's not ridiculously expensive as the video is showing right now, those temporary barriers can be used in lieu of something permanent, but there should be something permanent. This should not be allowed to happen.

ACOSTA: Now, I want to ask you about the images released by the FBI, specifically seeing Jabbard, a trench coat, wheeling coolers around the French Quarter. The FBI says they contained explosives. This is pretty scary stuff.

CLEMENTE: It is because unfortunately, it's the public that can prevent things like this. They have to be observant. You have to notice things that are out of the ordinary. When you see something say something. And when somebody rolls a cooler down the street and leaves it and walks away, it's no different than in an airport when somebody leaves a piece of luggage standing alone, it should be reported.

Anytime you see something suspicious like that, you should tell someone. It doesn't mean you have to confront the individual doing it, but you need to do something about it. And it could be totally innocuous. It could be that this guy was going inside to grab a six pack of beer and put it in that cooler and walk down Bourbon Street with that, or it could be that it's an IED. And in this case, that's exactly what it was.

ACOSTA: All right. Tim Clemente, thank you very much. Appreciate the time.

CLEMENTE: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Coming up, a former Fox Sports host accused of sexually harassing a hairstylist at the network. The alleged $1.5 million offer Skip Bayless is accused of making, it's coming up.

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[10:40:00]

ACOSTA: Officially begun with the Golden Globes kicking it off last night. Among the TV nominees, "Shogun," "Baby Reindeer," and "Hacks" were the top winners for movies. "Emilia Perez," "The Brutalist," "Wicked," and "Conclave" took home the top awards. And comedian Nikki Glaser became the first Golden Globes first solo female host.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI GLASER, GOLDEN GLOBES HOST: "The Bear," "The Penguin," "Baby Reindeer," these are not just things found in RFK's freezer, these are TV shows nominated tonight. What a night. I look out and I see some of the hardest working actors in show business. And by that, I mean your servers. Yes. Yes, give it up. They'll be bringing you your cocktails to drink and your food that you'll look at.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister joins us now. Elizabeth, there were some unexpected winners last night. A few big names taking home their first Golden Globe. I was glad to see Demi Moore win one. That was terrific. What can you tell us?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that was a huge moment, and I will get to that in a second. But first, Jim, you said some unexpected winners. Now, when you look at the television side, these were the expected winners. This was essentially a repeat of the Emmys. You had "Hacks" that took the crown on the comedy side, and you had "Shogun" on the drama side and "Baby Reindeer" for limited.

But when you look at the film side, Jim, this is where we got some unexpected surprises that is really paving the way for the road to the Oscars. "Emelia Perez" and "Brutalist" are the two films that really reigned supreme last night, and that wasn't necessarily expected. These did come in with the most nominations, but "Conclave" also came in with a ton of nominations and "The Brutalist" really kind of blew that one out of the water.

Now, some first-time winners, as you mentioned, Zoe Saldana winning for "Emelia Perez" with a really powerful speech and as you said, Demi Moore. Now, she had the speech of the night, Jim. When she took the podium, she actually spoke about her long career. And she said that 30 years ago, there was a producer that really made her feel worthless by saying that she's just a popcorn actress. Let's take a look at that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEMI MOORE, GOLDEN GLOBE WINNER FOR "THE SUBSTANCE": That corroded me over time to the point where I thought a few years ago that maybe this was it. Maybe I was complete. Maybe I would -- I've done what I was supposed to do. And as I was at kind of a low point, I had this magical, bold, courageous, out of the box, absolutely bonkers script come across my desk called "The Substance." And the universe told me that you're not done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:45:00]

Now, another unexpected moment of the night is that "Wicked" only won one award, which was for a fairly new category, which is for cinematic achievement. But even though they didn't win a ton of awards, Jim, you know what, it's made over $700 million at the worldwide box office. So, I think "Wicked" is doing just fine.

ACOSTA: They're doing just fine. And I have to say Nikki Glaser was incredible last night. She was amazing. And I'm not just saying that because I don't want her to make fun of me. She was hilarious and maybe helped save that program. I mean, there were a lot of concerns about can you host the Golden Globes? How should we do this? And she was fantastic.

WAGMEISTER: She was so funny. And I sat down with her a few days before the show and she was ready. So, I knew she was going to kill it, but she really brought it. And, you know, Jim, what's so interesting about the Golden Globes is this is the first award show to kick off awards season.

The Oscar nominations aren't even out, right? So, the Globes can really help set the way for the Oscars, but it's a long road. We still got two months until that show.

ACOSTA: Yes, I've got some movies to watch. Now. You're absolutely right. Some incredible films out there that I definitely need to take a look at. Elizabeth Wagmeister, thanks so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

ACOSTA: This morning we're getting new details into a bombshell lawsuit accusing Skip Bayless of sexual harassment and alleging his former employer Fox Sports fostered an environment that let it happen. A former hairstylist at the network is accusing Bayless of making unrepeated -- repeated I should say unwanted advances. At one point even offering her $1.5 million dollars to have sex with him and later threatening her job after she refused. CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter joins me now. Brian, this is some shocking stuff.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, Bayless was a prominent figure on ESPN for years, then on Fox Sports for eight years. He left Fox Sports last year, now has a podcast. But Bayless is being accused here of sexual harassment and of a possible retaliation. This suit does also name Fox Sports and its parent company, Fox Corporation.

There are some damning charges in this suit. However, Bayless and Fox have not yet responded. So, this may take a while to play out. But you see on screen there, some of the charges against him, probably most shockingly, the idea that he was offered -- he offered $1.5 million to have sex with this woman. Those allegations are made in this filing that was filed on Friday. And as I said, Bayless has not yet commented. Jim.

ACOSTA: And I did want to ask you, Brian, The Washington Post turning the page to a different story in the media is making some headlines for another controversial editorial decision. This involves the cartoonist at The Washington Post of all people. I mean, a very respected one. What happened?

STELTER: That's right. I read about this over the weekend. This is the cartoon by Ann Telnaes, who is a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist for The Washington Post. She made an image here of the post owner, Jeff Bezos, the bald head there on the left, as well as others like Mickey Mouse representing Disney showing media and tech moguls bowing at the knee to President-Elect Donald Trump.

This is the cartoon that Ann has given us permission to show. She says that it was nixed by her boss, David Shipley. She believes this was editorial interference at the Washington Post, which is owned by Bezos. Bezos, of course, one of the tech moguls that's tried to cozy up to Trump in recent weeks.

David Shipley says he was just concerned this was repetitive. He says a recent column have been published about the same topic. But I've seen many cases where cartoons and column columnists have repeated each other. Clearly, the column -- the cartoonist here believes this was a form of censorship by her bosses and she quit The Post as a result.

There's been a real drain on talent at the post recently, Jim, as others have left, some of them expressing concern about the leadership of The Post. You know, for a decade, Bezos was seen as an exemplar owner of The Post. This billionaire who was willing to fund The Post, even when it was losing money. But in recent weeks, there have been concerns, but whether he's going to have The Post back in a Trump 2.0.

You know, we've seen all this coverage recently, Jim, about moguls, media moguls, really tech moguls bending a knee for Trump. If some are bending the knee, others have to stand up straighter than ever because ultimately, it's about what the audience needs. You know, maybe these tech moguls think that shareholders need to see a relationship with Trump and that's best for shareholders. But when it comes to covering the news, it's about what's best for the readers and viewers. And so, we're seeing a lot of internal angst of The Washington Post about this right now.

ACOSTA: Yes, absolutely, Brian. I mean, and I should note, this was my hometown. I grew up in this area. This is my hometown newspaper growing up. The Washington Post is an institution in the nation's capital. It deserves to be independent. It should not have some billionaire lording over what they do in the newsroom. And my goodness, an editorial cartoon, a political cartoon, I mean, that's like the most harmless thing in the world. It's there to provoke. It's there to make you think about what's happening in the news. Why would they shut something like that down?

STELTER: And you know, in this case, we don't know if Bezos had anything to do with it. I suspect The Post would say that he didn't. This was a call by the opinions editor. But this is coming at a moment where there is concern about a chilling effect more broadly.

In fact, some of this cartoonist colleagues at other papers have come to her defense supporting her. And I saw Mark Cuban on social media this weekend saying, hey, let's hire her to create cartoons for Blue Sky. There's always this effect where if one outlet tries to tamp down something or make it go away, it ends up getting more attention as a result, right? Here we are talking about the cartoon as a result.

[10:55:00]

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, if we could show in the last seconds of the program here, I mean, let's just show one more time. There's nothing dangerous about this political cartoon. It just shows people bending the knee to the incoming president, which they shouldn't be doing. And I'm glad that we're highlighting her work here. Brian Stelter, thank you for highlighting it as well.

STELTER: Thanks.

ACOSTA: Really appreciate it, as always. Thanks so much. And thank you for joining us this morning. I'm Jim Acosta. Our next hour of Newsroom with Pamela Brown starts after a short break. Have a good day.

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[11:00:00]