Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Police: At Least 15 Killed In New Orleans Terror Attack; FBI Investigating Tesla Cybertruck Blast Near Trump Hotel In Las Vegas; Tight Security In New Orleans Ahead Of Tonight's Sugar Bowl. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired January 02, 2025 - 05:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:30:45]

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR: All right, 5:30 a.m. here on the East Coast. There's a live look at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, home of today's Sugar Bowl game. Good morning, everyone. I'm Manu Raju in for Kasie Hunt. Good to see you on this second day of 2025.

The latest now on the terror attack that has shaken New Orleans and the nation. Forty-two-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. Army veteran from Texas, killed by police after driving his rented pickup truck into a crowded street on Bourbon Street on New Year's Day killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens.

In a series of videos posted on social media the suspect discussed plans to kill his family and talked about dreams that inspired him to join ISIS.

CNN's Omar Jimenez now with the unimaginable damage he inflicted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Sudden terror on Bourbon Street.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were just bodies and the screams. You can't unthink about and unhear that. It was chaos and very, very scary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything the car is hitting, it's getting thrown.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A vehicle ran through a crowd of people. There's multiple injuries, multiple casualties. They need you at Canal and Bourbon.

JIMENEZ (voiceover): Just hours after the clock struck midnight the driver in a pickup truck went around barricades, according to police, killing those celebrating New Year's Eve along the iconic street. At least 15 people were killed and dozens others injured.

ANNE KIRKPATRICK, SUPERINTENDENT, NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT: This is not just an act of terrorism; this is evil.

JIMINEZ (voiceover): The suspect identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old man from Texas who previously served in the U.S. military. He was allegedly driving a privately rented pickup truck from Turo, an Airbnb-type rental site for cars.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An ISIS flag was located on the trailer hitch of the vehicle and the FBI is working to determine the subject's potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.

JIMENEZ (voiceover): Once the vehicle stopped the driver reportedly opened fire on responding police officers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Law enforcement returned fire, and the subject was pronounced deceased at the scene. Two law enforcement officers were injured and transported to local hospitals.

JIMENEZ (voiceover): Witnesses are asking questions why the city's steel mechanical barricades weren't up prior to the attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was police there at the entrance -- a lot of people there -- but the metal barricades were not up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bollards were not up because they are near completion.

JIMENEZ (voiceover): The FBI, which has taken over the investigation, does not believe the suspect acted alone.

ALTHEA DUNCAN, ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENT, FBI NEW ORLEANS: We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates.

JIMENEZ (voiceover): And the Sugar Bowl for college football scheduled to be held in New Orleans this evening has been postponed.

JEFF HUNDLEY, CEO, SUGAR BOWL: All agree that it's in the best interest of everybody in public safety that we postpone the game for 24 hours.

JIMENEZ (voiceover): Omar Jimenez, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: All right. In Las Vegas, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump hotel on Wednesday. The FBI is working to determine if the blast was a terrorist act and if it is connected to the incident in New Orleans. Both drivers had connections to the military and rented their cars through the same app.

CNN's Veronica Miracle walks us through what happened there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Our John Miller is telling us he has spoken to multiple law enforcement officials who say that the driver of the Cybertruck has a military background. Now, law enforcement officials say they know the name of this driver who died in the explosion, but they are not going to be releasing the identity of that driver until they have notified the next of kin.

We understand that this driver was in Las Vegas for about an hour driving around the Strip before pulling up to Trump Tower before that explosion happened. And authorities say the driver rented the Cybertruck in Colorado via the Turo app before driving down to Las Vegas.

Video released by law enforcement shows explosives that were contained inside the truck, which included fireworks, gas tanks, and camping fuel. And all of that was connected to a detonation system that was controlled by the driver.

[05:35:00]

And the sheriff pointed out, which is really incredible, how the Cybertruck actually contained the explosion. The way that it was built forced the explosion to go upwards instead of outwards, which meant that the glass from Trump Tower was not broken.

And seven people nearby were injured but with minor injuries. All of them are OK. They've all been released from the hospital. The driver did die.

And Las Vegas police believe that this was an isolated incident. They are not yet willing to say if this was, in fact, connected to what happened in New Orleans. But it is quite unusual that both the drivers in this -- in these incidents rented their cars from Turo.

And we do have a statement from Turo, and they said they are cooperating with these investigations. But they also said that neither of the drivers had criminal backgrounds, which would have flagged them as security threats.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: All right. Security beefed up in both Las Vegas and New Orleans this morning. Law enforcement officials in Louisiana reviewing every detail of yesterday's terrorist attack on Bourbon Street as questions were raised about barriers that were designed to prevent this kind of tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TROY CARTER (D-LA): They are metal bollards that come up out of the ground that are supposed to prevent any oncoming vehicles from driving into the crowd. We were told today at a briefing that apparently, they were not working properly, therefore there were vehicles that were placed in the place where the bollards would have been, which served as the blockade if you will.

The subject -- or suspect apparently went around the vehicle and jumped the sidewalk. The next question obviously to be asked is why was the sidewalk not protected?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, the Superdome is set to host the Sugar Bowl today after officials postponed the game last night. And according to our next guest, going ahead with the game is a good thing.

CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem writing in The Atlantic, "Getting on with activities as normal, to whatever extent is possible, is the correct approach. Responses to terror or violent attacks need to be based on the specifics of the incident, but the default should always be to remain open. A nation, any nation, must have the capacity to mourn and move forward simultaneously."

Juliette Kayyem now joins us live from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Juliette, nice to see you this morning.

So given what you just wrote there, how do you strike the balance between carrying on these largescale events and substantially ramping up security?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, HARVARD PROFESSOR (via Webex by Cisco): It is a balance, first of all. The primary concern is can the city and public safety officials guarantee the safety and security of the next event or just the city being open.

We've seen over the course of the last two decades from Nice to Berlin to here in Lewiston in Maine and New England those cities essentially shutting down in response to terror incidents or major violent incidents. That may be helpful in some instances.

But for the most part if the city can guarantee that the next event is safe and secure, as New Orleans has promised, then they -- then they should proceed. The default is then you're sort of waiting for things to always be safe. That's not going to happen in a city like New Orleans.

And so what New Orleans has to assess now is what kind of changes can they make to the safety and security of the Sugar Bowl tonight that will guarantee not only that people are safe but that they perceive themselves to be safe. And that's what you see going on in the last 20 hours or so as they ramp up for this event tonight, which I hope does continue.

RAJU: And I want to talk to you about the so-called lone wolf attacks.

KAYYEM: Yes.

RAJU: There's some reporting from our colleague -- from CNN's Katie Bo Lillis who writes for CNN Today. She says, "Current and former U.S. officials have publicly warned in recent months that the U.S. is at risk from so-called 'lone wolf' terror attacks -- individuals acting alone -- as well as attacks from small groups as the violence in Gaza has continued to dominate international news coverage. U.S. officials have been particularly alarmed by propaganda and recruitment efforts by the Afghanistan-based branch of ISIS, ISIS-K, especially since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has left the government with poorer intelligence-gathering capabilities in the country."

So given that, how much concern is there about these lone wolf attacks, as well as the threat of ISIS -- how much does the threat of ISIS pose to the U.S. right now?

KAYYEM: There's a difference between ISIS-directed and ISIS-inspired. I think the ISIS-directed kind of attacker -- in particular, the ones that we used to see in Europe -- are more difficult for ISIS. And part of it is our intelligence capabilities are still strong amongst our European allies. ISIS is not as strong.

But then you have what's called the ISIS-inspired and what we tend to call the zero-to-hero phenomenon. If a person is dealing with a lot of issues, as may be the case in this -- divorce, financial problems, maybe other issues -- and becomes radicalized because ISIS -- what he's reading online and maybe even direct contact with members of ISIS is inspiring him, and then he goes on.

[05:40:18]

We call that lone wolf because he is not really part of any terror organization but he's certainly getting fed a kind of narrative that allows or, in his mind, to do something like this which is meaningful in his mind. It's just a mass murder, of course, but it has the terror elements to it, which will be examined.

So I think actually, Manu, that's why there was some confusion about whether New Orleans is actually safe right now. Is it? You know, are there more people out there? There was some confusion about this word about his colleagues or compatriots. It may be that there are none but that he got inspired by people or activities abroad that then led to this.

And so if the New Orleans officials think that the city is safe and that there's no ongoing threat they then have to regroup and prepare for this event tonight. And prepare, honestly, for the city reopening after this weekend when people sort of get back to normal after this vacation week.

RAJU: Juliette, I want you to listen to the separate incident in Las Vegas where a Tesla Cybertruck --

KAYYEM: Yeah.

RAJU: -- exploded outside the Trump hotel. Listen to the Las Vegas sheriff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF KEVIN MCMAHILL, LAS VEGAS POLICE: I mean, it's a Tesla truck. We know that Elon Musk is working with President-elect Trump and it's the Trump Tower, so there's obviously things to be concerned about there and that's something we continue to look at.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And just quickly, Juliette, how -- what is the likelihood that you think that these two events were linked?

KAYYEM: I think probably pretty minimal. There are coincidences. But I put, sort of, Elon Musk and Trump, which were clearly the focus of this second attack in Las Vegas, in sort of a different category -- also equally dangerous and violent and not something -- and something that should be condemned.

But it seems different in kind. This person wanted to make a statement directly against Elon Musk, using the truck, and Trump. So I would look to more sort of domestic political motivation in this regard despite the coincidences, which should be examined.

RAJU: Yeah.

Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

RAJU: We really appreciate your expertise.

And next on CNN THIS MORNING gearing up for a speaker fight in the Halls of Congress. Can Mike Johnson keep his gavel despite growing Republican opposition?

Plus, the Sugar Bowl postponed. Kickoff now set for later today. Plans to keep the players and fans safe.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:47:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've directed my team to make sure every resource -- every resource is made available to federal, state, and local law enforcement to complete the investigation in New Orleans quickly and to make sure there's no remaining threat. The investigation is continuing to be active, and no one should jump to conclusions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: All right. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump offering sharply different reactions to the New Orleans tragedy. Biden thanking police and urging the public not to jump to conclusions. But Trump, who takes office in less than three weeks, suggested on social media, without evidence, that the suspect was an immigrant.

The FBI identified the suspect as an Army veteran from Texas. Two sources telling CNN he is a U.S. citizen. In a post on Truth Social he wrote, "When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than we have -- than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted, but it turned out to be true. The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before."

Joining me now is Margaret Talev. She's a senior contributor for Axios. Margaret, it's so great to see you this morning.

MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, AXIOS, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY, JOURNALISM AND CITIZENSHIP, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: Happy New Year.

RAJU: What do make of the different responses? I mean, Trump is known to just spout out, but is he basing any of those comments on anything or just -- he just suspected that potentially, an immigrant came into the country and committed this heinous act?

TALEV: Yeah. Based on all the information that authorities have made available to us there's absolutely no evidence that this individual was anything other than not just an American citizen but a U.S. military veteran. And that's also problematic for law enforcement officials and for the ranks inside the military who are trying to think about these issues.

But yes. To your point, two completely different responses. And Trump's response I think does give us a preview of how he may govern when he takes office. You're going to see immigration and the sort of divisiveness around immigration be sort of a front and center instinct. But it's one thing to be a candidate and it's another thing to be the president. And he's going to have a national security team who is going to need to get this right.

I think that -- in the next couple of weeks in this transition, that's what's going to be really, really important is for both the outgoing administration and the incoming administration to be able to put all of the politics aside --

RAJU: Yeah. I mean --

TALEV: -- and focus on public safety.

RAJU: And given that this happening in the middle of a transition --

TALEV: Yeah.

RAJU: -- there's a complicated investigation. Typically you think most of the time officials say all right, let's let the investigation --

TALEV: Right.

RAJU: -- play out and then we can make our conclusions or base or conclusions off of the evidence. That's not what Trump did right off the bat. But one thing that Trump's allies are doing on Capitol Hill are trying

to make the case that his nominees -- his national security nominees need to be confirmed immediately.

This is what Sen. John Barrasso -- he's the incoming Republican whip -- the number two position in the Senate -- in the Senate saying, "The U.S. Senate must confirm President Trump's national security team as soon as possible. Lives depend on it."

[05:50:04]

And, of course, this national security team has a fair amount of controversy. People like Pete Hegseth to be the new defense secretary. Kash Patel, the FBI director. Questions about them as well. But this is going to be the big argument coming in -- move now -- and Republicans are going to be under pressure to fall in line.

TALEV: And Tulsi Gabbard at DNI.

I actually -- I think this does help the confirmation path for some of these really controversial nominees. They are going to have to answer questions about how they would handle public safety threats or terror threats, or terror investigations. So I think they're going to have to -- that's going to be a common new element in confirmation hearings.

But absolutely, it is going to ease the path, again, at ODNI, at FBI --

RAJU: Um-hum.

TALEV: -- at the -- at the Pentagon in a lot of these cases.

RAJU: So that's on the Senate side. But there's also drama --

TALEV: Yeah.

RAJU: -- building on the House side.

TALEV: Yeah.

RAJU: This is Thomas Massie, who is the one Republican in the House GOP who said that he will oppose Speaker Johnson when it comes for -- when tomorrow happens -- January 3 when they vote for the Speaker of the House -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Could you vote for him on January 3?

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): He doesn't have my vote.

RAJU: So you won't vote for him?

MASSIE: He does not have my vote.

RAJU: Will you change your mind? MASSIE: That would take a Christmas miracle.

RAJU: Do you think the speaker, given the way he's handled this, deserves to be re-elected on January 3?

REP. RICH MCCORMICK (R-GA): I think there's going to be a debate on it. If we're not careful we'll be -- we'll be having some serious debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: I mean, so the reason why Thomas Massie is important, of course, is that he can only afford to lose --

TALEV: Yeah.

RAJU: -- one Republican vote, assuming every candidate -- every member votes for a specific candidate.

Do you think Johnson can pull this off?

TALEV: Yeah, it's one of the big questions although I think it just got overshadowed by everything else --

RAJU: Yeah.

TALEV: -- that we were just talking about. My colleague Andrew Solender at Axios is watching this like a hawk and has been watching Chip Roy as well.

RAJU: The Texas Republican congressman who is still undecided about it, or at least noncommittal about how he'll vote.

TALEV: Yeah. But in the end, there's a couple of factors here that are going on. One is Trump. One is that Trump is behind Johnson and that if you cross Trump and you're a Republican you do that at your peril. If you've just survived a primary challenge despite Trump not being aligned with you maybe you don't care. But that's not the case for the overwhelming majority of House Republicans and this caucus.

But the other is in light of these attacks it is just evermore important. I think you're going to hear the argument for the incoming Congress to be able to hit the ground running. Because don't forget this isn't just about protecting Las Vegas or protecting New Orleans, or what's going to happen at the Super Bowl. There is inauguration.

RAJU: Um-hum.

TALEV: There is both a state funeral for the late President Jimmy Carter, and there is now an inauguration that is just a couple of weeks ahead. So --

RAJU: Trump realizes that. And not to mention January 6 where they certify the votes.

TALEV: Oh, yeah. That date -- yes. RAJU: Yes, that's happening just in a few days. And if there's no Speaker of the House that could be a complicated --

TALEV: Yeah.

RAJU: -- scenario. So all pressure --

TALEV: Yeah.

RAJU: -- will be built on Republicans to fall in line. We'll see if they do.

All right, Margaret. Thank you so much for coming in. Appreciate your expertise.

TALEV: Thanks, Manu.

RAJU: Yeah.

Today the Sugar Bowl college football playoff quarterfinal is set to take place in New Orleans. The game between the University of Georgia and Notre Dame was postponed 24 hours in response to the terror attack in that city. A student from UGA was critically injured in the attack.

Notre Dame's coach going to the matchup with faith.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCUS FREEMAN, HEAD COACH, NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL: And what I told the team is in the toughest moments the culture of any program of a nation is revealed. And I have a lot of faith this country will rally around New Orleans and support all of the victims and families that were affected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: CNN's Andy Scholes has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, officials in New Orleans say they have moved the Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Notre Dame to Thursday out of an abundance of caution due to the terrorist attack early Wednesday morning.

The superintendent of New Orleans police says they will have heightened security in the area and bomb dogs will continue to sweep the Superdome and the exterior through the game. Now, officials insist it will be safe to play the game.

And here was Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley on the decision to postpone.

HUNDLEY: We have been in consultation with ESPN, with the College Football Playoff, with the Southeastern Conference, with the University of Georgia, with Notre Dame, all parties -- and all agree that it's in the best interest of everybody in public safety that we postpone the game.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): I think the mayor and the governor are very wise to postpone this ballgame. There's just too much stuff we don't know and it's just not worth it.

SCHOLES: Now, the Super Bowl is set to be played in New Orleans on February 9. The NFL -- they released a statement on Wednesday saying that they were deeply saddened by what happened and added, "The NFL and the local host committee have been working collaboratively with local, state and federal agencies the past two years and have developed comprehensive security plans.

[05:55:12]

These planning sessions will continue as they do with all major NFL events, and we are confident attendees will have a safe and enjoyable Super Bowl experience."

Now, it will be interesting to see what Super Bowl week in New Orleans is like because just hours ago the air in New Orleans -- it was filled with joy and anticipation for the Sugar Bowl, and now it's tragedy, uncertainty, and the overriding issue of safety hovering over the city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: All right, Andy Scholes. Thank you for your report.

In our next hour on CNN THIS MORNING our coverage of the terror investigation out of New Orleans continues. A City Council member joins me live to discuss the latest.

Plus, disturbing new details about the suspect and his plans to join ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was pandemonium. I -- it was obviously emergency vehicles everywhere. Police were everywhere -- bodies. Folks were just running through the streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL)