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At Least 32 Killed In Tibet Quake; Justin Trudeau To Resign As Canada's Prime Minister; U.S. Congress Certifies Trump's Election Win; Suspect Wore Meta Smart Glasses Before & During Attack; Trump Advisor Takes Aim at U.S. Partners in Europe. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired January 07, 2025 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:25]
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, we are following breaking news in Tibet, where Chinese state media reporting dozens are dead following a powerful earthquake. Also --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, OUTGOING CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: Justin Trudeau says he is quitting as Canada's prime minister in response to bad polls, party infighting, and the looming threat of Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today was obviously a very important day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: And Kamala Harris certifies Donald Trump's election win four years to the day after a mob stormed the Capitol hoping to block Joe Biden's victory.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
SANDOVAL: But first, we begin with breaking news out of Tibet, where Chinese state media reporting at least 32 people have been killed in a powerful earthquake. The U.S. Geological Survey says the 7.1 quake struck just after 9:00 a.m. local time, followed by multiple aftershocks. Reports say that the epicenter was high up in the Tibetan Plateau. That's close to the Himalayan border.
Let's get right to CNN's Marc Stewart, who's joining me live in Beijing.
Marc, we know at least dozens of people now reported dead. What else have we heard?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, Polo, we've been following this for the last four hours or so from our base here in Beijing. Not only is the death toll rising, but we are starting to get a better idea of the damage. In fact, the Chinese Air Force has now been activated to help in any kind of search efforts. According to one government figure, at least 1,000 homes have been damaged.
Let me walk with you through some of the pictures right now. A number of buildings have damage. We have seen rubble in the streets, making it very difficult for people to get around this particular area. This is Shigatse. It's about 100 miles away from the epicenter. But at times we saw pictures of debris in the road, making it very hard for people to get around.
We had a glimpse inside of a restaurant. There were some broken glass. Some of the fixtures had fallen. So the damage is now being assessed. At least 38 people have been injured, according to the government. You can see a chandelier has been swinging in addition to more damage on the roads.
At one point, I think earlier you saw some video of people inside a grocery store when the shaking occurred, items started to fall from the shelves and people immediately took cover. We've also been scouring Chinese social media to get some accounts from people on the ground. We heard from one person who said they were sleeping, and the force of it was so strong that it woke them up.
In fact, we are now getting reports from the geological service here in China that at least 49 aftershocks were recorded and that tremors were felt nearby in Nepal and in India.
As you alluded to earlier, this is a very remote part of Tibet, very close to the Himalayan border with Nepal. The epicenter, again, 100 miles away from the most major city, that being Shigatse. And that too has some very special meaning in a part of the world that is seen as very sacred and spiritual. That is where the Panchen Lama sits and lives. And of course, that being the second highest spiritual leader in Tibet Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.
Again, earlier there were reports of nine people dead, but then quickly we saw the death toll start to rise. One person did comment on Chinese social media that this occurred just about two weeks prior to the start of the Chinese New Year, which is a very sacred time for people here in China, and that the timing of this weighs heavy.
Polo, we are reaching out to local officials from our spot here in Beijing. Obviously, this is a fluid story and numbers will change. And certainly we are staying on top of it from here in Beijing -- Polo.
SANDOVAL: Marc Stewart, walking us through some of those dramatic images of life very quickly interrupted for so many people in that remote area.
Marc, do come back to us if you get any information. Thank you so much for that. All right. Now to the end of an era in Canadian politics.
[00:05:02]
After almost 10 years in power, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he is resigning as head of the Liberal Party, which also means he's giving up his premiership. His successor will automatically become Canada's next prime minister, but Mr. Trudeau will stay on in a caretaker role for the time being.
He succumbed to pressure from members of his own party, who had been loudly calling for him to quit. Among them, his once close ally, the finance minister, who resigned herself last month. The liberals in Canada, or at least the Liberal Party, are widely expected to lose the general election later this year to Canada's conservative party, and Mr. Trudeau's departure is seen as an attempt to damage control.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUDEAU: I'm a fighter. Every bone in my body has always told me to fight because I care deeply about Canadians. I care deeply about this country, and I will always be motivated by what is in the best interest of Canadians. This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I'm having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: The Canadian parliament will be suspended until late March, while the Liberal Party picks Justin Trudeau's replacement.
More now from CNN's Paula Newton.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUDEAU: I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Canada's Justin Trudeau announced he would step down as both Liberal Party leader and prime minister when his party chooses a new leader. Trudeau ending months of turmoil about his future with a reluctant goodbye.
One of the country's youngest ever leaders, Trudeau promised to usher in sunny ways when he was first elected in 2015. But nearly a decade later, members of his own party recently joined a growing chorus of Canadians who wanted the sun to set on his tenure. Amid plummeting opinion polls, Trudeau's Liberal Party was widely expected to lose a general election later this year if he remained as prime minister. Still, for months, he said he had no intention of resigning.
TRUDEAU: Like most families, sometimes we have fights around the holidays. But of course, like most families, we find our way through it.
NEWTON: Despite calls to resign from his own members of parliament, Trudeau insisted that he was best placed to fight Canada's corner as President-elect Donald Trump threatens 25 percent tariffs on all goods imported from Canada, which is home to about 40 million people and one of America's largest trading partners.
But last month, even Trudeau's finance minister and longtime ally, Chrystia Freeland, resigned from his cabinet, leaving him on even shakier ground with a blunt resignation letter accusing the prime minister of using costly political gimmicks at the expense of Canada's fiscal health. Freeland added that the government needed to start pushing back against America First economic nationalism.
A former high school teacher and the eldest son of Pierre Trudeau, one of Canada's most well-known prime ministers, Trudeau was elected three times. He became a poster child for the country's progressive agenda on the global stage, seen as an antidote to Trump during the incoming U.S. president's first term.
His government pursued policies on alleviating child poverty, gender equity, cutting middle class taxes, and the legalization of cannabis. And while he was generally praised for his handling of the pandemic, voter sentiment has soured since. High inflation, an affordable housing crisis, and an increase in legal immigration have tested Trudeau's government.
TRUDEAU: We continue to handle migration seriously.
NEWTON: And will that include taking migrants that sometimes even present themselves at the southern border or taking migrants directly from the United States?
TRUDEAU: Canada is always willing to do more. We just need to make sure we're doing it in responsible, proper ways to continue to have our citizens positive towards immigration as Canadians always are.
NEWTON (voice-over): Now that Trudeau is resigning, once a new Liberal Party leader is in place, an election will follow by summer or early fall at the latest.
Former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland, and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly are all considering a run for the Liberal leadership. Pierre Poilievre's opposition Conservative Party currently holds a more than 20 percent lead over the Liberals in polling averages.
Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: Ian Austen is the Canada correspondent for "The New York Times." He joins us from Ottawa with more.
Ian, thank you so much for spending some time with us.
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I want to hear from you a little bit more about these disapproval numbers that we've all seen for Prime Minister Trudeau, which show really a downfall of what was once a glittering premiership. So help me and our viewers around the world really understand where things went wrong for the soon-to-be former Prime Minister Trudeau.
IAN AUSTEN, CANADA CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK TIMES: Well, it's been a true arc because when he first came to power in 2015, everybody had written his party off and thought that he was going to -- his party would finish third in that election, and they ended up winning it with a huge majority. But it's been a succession of sort of scandals, some minor, some major, which have left him with declining popularity for several years. And minority governments where he didn't control the votes in the House of Commons for several years.
But that trend really, really accelerated in the past year. It was driven by a number of things, but the inflation that swept the world was blamed on him and the out of control housing prices in some parts of Canada, like Toronto and Vancouver, also came back to haunt him.
SANDOVAL: Obviously, the big question is what his party is doing right now in terms of a succession plan. We know that they didn't really leave a plan behind here, at least as a plan to right now. So I'm curious what his party is doing right now to try to find a successor who could potentially stand a chance against a conservative candidate come the election.
AUSTEN: Well, you know, that may be a tall order because they're more than 20 percentage points behind the conservatives right now. So that's a very big hurdle to recover. I mean, the Liberal Party as it is today is Justin Trudeau's party. His celebrity and his political skill, communication skills, you know, salvaged the party. It was remade in his image, controlled by a very small group of people around him.
So not only is there not a succession plan, it's hard to see what there is in the Liberal Party right now beyond Justin Trudeau. So, I mean, there are a number of people out there who are likely to run. Some are within his cabinet, like Chrystia Freeland, the former finance minister who triggered all of this a month ago with a very stinging resignation.
She was upset about some government measures she had been told to implement, like a sales tax holiday on some items over Christmas and giving out $250 checks to every Canadian. They dropped that one. So she's a potential contender.
SANDOVAL: Regardless of who will be the next potential prime minister here they will sit at the table with Donald Trump eventually. So with the prospect of a tariff war, there's Trump's pitch to make Canada the U.S.'s 51st state, which, as you know, some Canadians don't even take that quite seriously.
So then how does the next Canadian prime minister actually navigate what could be a very tense diplomatic relationship with the Trump administration, who's about to be installed?
AUSTEN: Well, I, you know, I mean, before we go on, actually a lot of Canadians are really angry about the 51st state knocks. I mean, I don't think people think -- seriously going to annex the country. But his complete disregard for its sovereignty angers people, worries people. I mean, there's a lot of concern. Trump during the election talked about bringing water down from Canada. With the idea of exporting fresh water from Canada is a real no go for a lot of Canadians.
Trudeau's approach the first time around which he started again with a Thanksgiving weekend trip down to Florida to meet with Trump has been not so much appeasement, but taking him seriously, not fighting with it, not pushing back like we've seen from the president of Mexico. We don't know. I mean, it's Conservative, the leader of the Conservatives, Pierre Poilievre, talks a big line. We'll see.
I mean, Canada is in a very, very weak position. The economy is heavily dependent on exports to the United States. Oil and cars in particular. So any disruption of that could be crippling to the economy. But Canada doesn't have like a lot of tools to retaliate with. I mean, there's some loose talk of cutting off energy, cutting off oil and gas and electricity. That would create a huge internal constitutional crisis with the provinces who prosper, whose budgets depend on those exports.
You know, otherwise, I mean, Canada putting tariffs on American imports, even though we're the United States's biggest trading partner, it's not really going to affect the U.S. economy that much. It's, you know, the Canadian economy is rough, a bit smaller than California's.
SANDOVAL: Sure. We're already learning that Donald Trump not yet back in office and already his words with some serious consequences. And as you correctly point out, some real anger for many Canadians.
[00:15:02]
So we do want to thank you, Ian Austen, for your critical reporting through all this. And let's see where this goes.
AUSTEN: Yes, indeed. Lots to come.
SANDOVAL: A whole lot still to come, especially here. Donald Trump's electoral victory is now official. His win certified exactly four years after his supporters attempted to thwart the very same process for Joe Biden. We'll have that latest from the Capitol just ahead.
Also later, police say the man who carried out the New Orleans terror attack on New Year's Day wore a special pair of glasses that helped him scout the scene weeks in advance. Details when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANDOVAL: We do want to bring you an update now on our breaking news at the top, which is the Chinese state media now reporting at least 53 people have been killed in that powerful earthquake in Tibet. The U.S. Geological Survey says that it was a magnitude 7.1 that was centered high up in the Tibetan Plateau. Chinese authorities reporting dozens of strong aftershocks have already been felt. And we are learning now that the Chinese Air Force has been activated
to help in the search and rescue efforts. You see these pictures, certainly concerns that that death toll will continue to increase, again now at 53.
Stay with CNN as we continue to get more information from that region.
Back in the United States, Congress has officially paved the way for Donald Trump's inauguration as the nation's 47th president later this month by certifying his electoral victory on Monday. Lawmakers braved the snowstorm in the nation's capital to attend the certification, and Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in November, fulfilled her role as president of the Senate and oversaw the proceedings that made her opponents win official.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes. Kamala D. Harris --
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HARRIS: Kamala D. Harris of the state of California has received 226 votes.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: Vice President Harris praised the peaceful transfer of power as, quote, "what should be the norm." January 6th, of course, was to become a day of infamy in the U.S. with Monday's proceedings coming exactly four years after Trump's -- some of Trump's supporters violently stormed the Capitol building, interrupting the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 presidential victory.
Today, security was heightened both in and around the U.S. Capitol building. One Democratic lawmaker lamenting the unprecedented security, saying that the Capitol resembled the embassy of Baghdad.
[00:20:06]
Our Manu Raju brings us the very latest from Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: in the end, January 6th, 2025, ended rather quickly. About half an hour to go through all 50 states and to certify the electoral results, ensuring that Donald Trump will take the presidency on January 20th.
Clearly a much different display than what we saw four years ago. The violence and destruction of that day upending years and years of a peaceful transition of power. At the time, in the aftermath of Trump supporters coming into the Capitol, a lot of Republicans made clear of their disgust, their disdain with the then president's handling of all of this. Some believe that Trump was done, would never come back again, were ready to move on.
But as we know, time has changed. Trump well on the way to becoming president again and a lot of Republicans simply don't want to relitigate what happened on January 6th, 2021, want to move on. And that's including -- that's the message of the Senate majority leader, John Thune, gave me in the aftermath of this week's election certification, saying that he's ready to move forward. He doesn't want to go back into his view of that day.
Now Trump has said repeatedly that it was a day of love, calling that January 6th, 2021. Some Republicans, however, disagree with that assessment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: President-elect refers to it as the day of love. Was it a day of love?
SEN. JOHN CURTIS (R-UT): Not for me. No.
RAJU: What do you say to that?
CURTIS: It was not our country's best day.
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): I was here on January 6th. What I saw was a peaceful protest that turned into a riot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Now a big question for Trump is how does he deal with the January 6th prisoners? He has said on day one he would pardon the January 6th prisoners. But who exactly will he pardon? Will he once pardoned ones who were engaged in serious violence, attacks against police officers, a conviction of seditious conspiracy and the like. All big questions. Some Republicans say that it's up to Trump, but they don't want him to give a blanket pardon to all these prisoners. Instead want him to pick individual ones that he believes justify a pardon.
It's uncertain which route Trump will go, but that's something to watch in the weeks ahead, but some Republicans, they want to move on from January 6th. They don't want to go back into it. But it's unclear how the incoming president will deal with all of this.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: All right. So let's explore more about the significance of today's ceremony. Ron Brownstein is CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic." He joins us now live from Los Angeles.
Ron, thanks so much for joining us. I have to say, watching that process. Good to have you. I have to say, watching today, Vice President Kamala Harris, as she presided over the confirmation that made official her own defeat. And, of course, by default, the victory of her former opponent. I wonder, do you think that today's certification that obviously went peacefully as we expected, do you think it helped some Americans who perhaps had some concerns about, obviously, what took place four years ago?
But first, before we do that, I want you to hear the vice president and her remarks right after she took that count.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Today was obviously a very important day. And it was about what should be the norm and what the American people should be able to take for granted, which is that one of the most important pillars of our democracy is that there will be a peaceful transfer of power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: Now a reminder, Al Gore, in a similar fashion in 2001, also oversaw the electoral college count that made his defeat official. So, Ron, back to the question. Do you think that today's certification that went, again, peacefully, do you think it helped some Americans renew any loss of confidence in the process that was put to the test four years ago? So, in other words, how much was riding on what is normally a dull, procedural, albeit solemn, ceremony?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think the meaning of today is going to be shaped by what happens in the future. I found myself thinking today, what is the anomaly, right? So today was what we have seen in every other certification in American history except for 2020. You know, kind of a nonevent, a ceremonial event, a ministerial event.
The question going forward is, was 2020 the anomaly or will this be the anomaly? Was 2020 unique because you had Donald Trump whipping up, you know, this fervor that ultimately 147 Republicans in Congress joined in voting to overturn the election? Or is this the anomaly where it all went peacefully only because Republicans won the election? I don't think we know the meaning of today until we see how it plays out in 2028 and 2032.
[00:25:04]
SANDOVAL: And hold that thought. I do want to hear more about what we can expect in the second Trump era. But first, I know you saw this on social media today. Trump on Monday, he criticized the current president's transition efforts. He wrote that Biden is, quote, "doing everything possible to make the transition as difficult as possible." And then the president-elect pointed to recent executive actions from the Biden White House in his claim here.
So, Ron, is this already a preview of the kind of messaging that we're likely going to see in a second Trump era?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, first of all, you know, Susie Wiles, who is Trump's incoming chief of staff and ran his campaign, was quoted in an interview today talking about how cooperative the Biden White House has been in the transition.
You know, cooperating in the transition is different than sharing the policy vision of the administration that's replacing you. And Biden certainly has been aggressive in the last few weeks, and I suspect he is not done in trying to cement as much of his agenda into place as he can. What kind of set Trump off was Biden's move today to place much of the outer-continental shelf off limits for oil drilling, both off the East Coast and the West Coast, and in a critical part of Alaska.
That certainly -- Trump is certainly going to try to overturn that. That is going to court right away. But, you know, there is a difference between trying to lock in your policy agenda and providing the kind of necessary procedural help to an administration to get its, you know, sea legs and that I think Trump is conflating in his statement there today.
SANDOVAL: That sounds so familiar. Those mixed messages that we heard from President Trump versus what some of those in his press office were saying.
And then finally, just operationally, Ron, how much freedom does Donald Trump have to actually govern this time around once the honeymoon is over? Mainly the difference between the first Trump era and what we're going to see in just a few weeks' time.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I think that across the board the constraints that limited Trump in the first term are weaker now which may not be an unvarnished blessing for him and the GOP. I mean, you think back to 2017, the GOP leadership in Congress was Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, both of whom were deeply skeptical of Trump. He was in a position within the party where he had to name senior officials in his own government who really weren't part of his movement, but were kind of concessions to other power centers in the GOP.
The Supreme Court at that point, when he came in in 2017, was 4-4 with Anthony Kennedy as really an unreliable vote from the point of view of conservatives as part of those, you know, four Republican appointed justices. All of that obviously is enormously different today. I mean, you have GOP leadership that is much more deferential to him. Trump has been able to make loyalty to him personally.
The key variable in his appointments, and you have a solid six three conservative majority in the Supreme Court. Business leaders are more willing to kind of genuflect toward Trump than they were four years ago. That should give him more leverage to advance his agenda. But the downside is that there were a lot of Trump ideas in the first term that might have been very alienating for the public that got stopped by one or the other of these power centers.
That kind of limit, those kinds of hurdles are going to be much less in this time. You're going to kind of get Trump unbound and whether that is something that the public wants we're going to have to see.
SANDOVAL: Ron Brownstein, thanks for letting us or at least helping us look into the future. And certainly thank you for staying up late with us. Take care. BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
SANDOVAL: All right. Israel's prime minister is vowing to settle accounts after a deadly shooting attack in the West Bank. We're going to have those details for you coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANDOVAL: You are streaming CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.
[00:31:16]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to hold a cabinet meeting in the coming hours following a deadly shooting in the West Bank.
He's vowing to track down those responsible after gunmen attacked two cars and a bus on Monday, killing three Israeli settlers and injuring eight others, including the driver of the bus.
Israeli authorities say the vehicles were targeted on a road in a Palestinian village. There's been no claim of responsibility, but the militant group Hamas has -- has praised the attack.
Since the war in Gaza started, attacks on Palestinian communities by Israeli settlers have increased, while there have also been attacks against the settlers.
In a statement on X, Mr. Netanyahu promised to find the, quote, "abhorrent murderers" and settle accounts with them and those who aided them. He added, quote, "No one will get away."
All right. New video verified by CNN shows intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Russia's Kursk region. Footage showed by the Ukrainian -- or rather shared by the Ukrainian army, showing armored vehicles and artillery and drone attacks against Russian troops.
Ukraine -- Ukraine has held ground in the Southern region since its incursion in August.
Ukrainian military officials say they have launched counterattacks to prevent Russian forces from pushing them out of the area.
Russia claims to have repelled these counterattacks and says its forces have prevented Ukrainian troops from breaking through to a village in Kursk. CNN is unable to verify battlefield reports. U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden honoring the victims of the New Orleans terror attack on Monday at an interfaith memorial service. The president promising to make every resource at his disposal available to the families of those killed.
He also acknowledged the hardships people in that city have endured in recent years, and he also promised the country would stand with them as the healing begins. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know events like this are hard, and the shock and pain is still so very raw. My wife Jill and I are here to stand with you, to grieve with you, to pray with you, to let you know you are not alone.
And if there's one thing we know, New Orleans defines strength and resilience. You define it. Whether it's in the form of this attack -- from this attack or hurricanes or superstorms, this city and its people get back up. That's the spirit of America, as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: You see the Bidens here also visited Bourbon Street, where the attack happened, to lay flowers at a temporary memorial, a tribute to the victims of the terror attack. They bowed their heads in silence before moving on.
The FBI says the New Orleans attacker used Meta smart glasses to help him plan the attack on Bourbon Street.
CNN's Ryan Young explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This video shows Jabbar during that trip in October with his Meta glasses.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The FBI releasing this video, recorded from a pair of Meta smart glasses worn by the man who carried out the attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on New Year's Day.
Investigators revealing that he made at least two visits to the city in the months prior to the holiday attack.
LYONEL MYRTHIL, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI NEW ORLEANS: During that time, Jabbar using Meta glasses, recorded a video as he rode through the French Quarter on a bicycle.
YOUNG (voice-over): Eerie video that shows him at one point demonstrating the glasses in front of a mirror, revealing his face.
[00:35:03]
TIM CLEMENTE, FORMER FBI COUNTERTERRORISM AGENT: It's part of his pre- attack surveillance, where he was involved in the planning stage. The glasses allow him to take everything in, absorb all that data, review it later when he's alone.
It allows you complete anonymity, and I think that's what he was looking for. Data collection and anonymity.
MARK ZUCKERBERG, META CEO: The next generation of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. YOUNG: These are the Ray-Ban Meta sunglasses. They have cameras built
in and speakers, and an A.I. assistant. You can even tell it to do things like, "Hey, Meta, take a video."
And once it starts recording, there's a white light that starts flashing here. And as I look around, you would not even know that I'm recording video.
This is what investigators believe the suspect did on two different occasions.
YOUNG (voice-over): The camera glasses can take photos and record up to three minutes of video, and also be livestreamed to Facebook or Instagram.
Though authorities say that, while the attacker was found wearing the glasses on the day of the attack, they were turned off.
A Meta spokesperson declined to comment to CNN.
Other new information also coming out from a 2019 confidential security report, carried out by a private security consulting firm, and obtained by CNN.
DON AVIV, CEO, INTERFOR INTERNATIONAL: The point of the report was really to highlight issues throughout the French Quarter. Security issues, safety issues.
YOUNG (voice-over): The report saying political clashes in the city may have hindered efforts to install those permanent barriers in the French Quarter that had been recommended to improve security.
AVIV: So, it was quite glaring to see how many different groups are fighting for the dollars and the policing dollars to protect this 1.1 square mile piece of land.
YOUNG: Yes, the city of New Orleans asked federal officials for extensive security support to protect Mardi Gras celebrations over the next few months. And let's not forget the Super Bowl is scheduled to be played in New Orleans on February 9th.
Ryan Young, CNN, Atlanta, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: We have quite the showdown still ahead. It's Elon Musk versus Keir Starmer. The online war of words between the world's richest man and the British prime minister.
But the fight doesn't end there. That's next here on CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANDOVAL: Right now, there's a battle brewing between Elon Musk and some of Europe's political leaders. The world's richest man is testing his strength against key U.S. partners and aligning himself with far- right populist leaders.
Here's CNN's Nic Robertson with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Elon Musk is gunning for world leaders. In his crosshairs. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer alleging failings in a child sexual abuse scandal when Starmer was the U.K.'s chief prosecutor more than a decade ago, and posting this question to his followers, if "America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government?"
[00:40:03]
Starmer, firing back.
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We've seen this playbook many times: whipping up of intimidation and threats of violence.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Musk's inaccurate and sensationalist accusations are catching U.K. politicians off-guard.
His trolling of Starmer is not new. Last summer, claiming racist riots were tipping the U.K. into civil war.
But this, and his international meddling, is reaching new levels. Since becoming President-elect Donald Trump's adviser, Musk's words have more muscle.
The power pair have teamed up on calls with world leaders, notably with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, one day after the U.S. presidential elections.
But it is Musk's right-wing push, picking up on what former Trump strategist and adviser Steve Bannon began eight years ago -- championing Europe's far-right populist disrupters -- that has Europe's leaders worried.
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): Ten years ago, if we'd been told that the owner of the largest social media networks would support an international reactionary movement and directly intervene in elections, including Germany.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Musk also supporting the hard-right AFD, Alternative for Germany Party, which has been accused of resurrecting Nazi rhetoric ahead of elections there next month.
But Musk is going further right than Bannon, attacking a staunch Trump ally, Nigel Farage, saying, "Farage doesn't have what it takes" to lead his upstart Reform U.K. Party.
Farage, the British populist who pushed Brexit just hours before Musk's put-down, had counted the tech titan a supporter who might finance his fledgling party. NIGEL FARAGE, LEADER, U.K. REFORM PARTY: The fact that he supports me
politically and supports Reform doesn't mean I have to agree with every single statement he makes on X.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Why the falling out? Possibly differences over this man, known as Tommy Robinson, a jailed anti-Muslim campaigner who fanned the flames of racist riots last summer. Musk praises him. Farage doesn't.
The question in Europe now: how far right will Musk go?
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
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SANDOVAL: Donald Trump Jr. is expected to visit Greenland in the coming hours as his father, Donald Trump, the U.S. president-elect, pushes for control of the Danish territory.
Denmark's foreign minister says the trip is simply to shoot video for a podcast, and it is not an official American visit.
Donald Trump has said buying Greenland from Denmark is an absolute necessity for national security and freedom throughout the world, he says.
Greenland's prime minister responded the territory is not for sale, and it never will be.
I'm Polo Sandoval from the team, and I thank you for watching. We'll be back in about 15 minutes with more CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts after the break.
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