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FBI Hunting For Possible Accomplices In Truck Ramming Massacre. Sugar Bowl Postponed Until Tomorrow In Wake Of New Orleans Attack; Death Toll Rises To At Least 15 In New Year`s Eve Truck Attack; Source: Cybertruck That Exploded In Front Of Trump Hotel In Las Vegas Also Rented On Turo; "Luther: Never Too Much" Premieres Tonight At 8PM ET/PT On CNN. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired January 01, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: Our hearts and prayers go out to your entire community. We know the focus by law enforcement moving forward. There will certainly be an enormous amount of it as you pursue justice as well with potential other suspects here. Thank you so much for your time and for what your city has been through over the course of the last 13 hours.

Our news continues on CNN with Wolf Blitzer in the "Situation Room."

[17:00:32]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now, breaking news, evidence that more than one person may have been connected to the deadly truck ramming attack in New Orleans. We`re learning about video potential accomplices now being reviewed by investigators.

Also this hour, FBI officials confirm the now dead driver who plowed into a New Year`s Eve crowd had an ISIS flag, an ISIS flag in his truck. And we`re also told writings have been found that support the FBI`s view that the massacre was indeed inspired by that Islamic terrorist group.

Plus, the carnage in New Orleans prompts a 24 hour delay in the Sugar Bowl that was supposed to take place in the city tonight. Law enforcement scrambling big time to take precautions to ensure that players and fans are safe.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I`m Will Blitzer. You`re in The Situation Room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

BLITZER: All right, let`s get right to the breaking news on possible accomplices in the truck ramming attack in New Orleans that killed at least 10 people and injured dozens of others. We`re also learning more about the driver of the truck and his background. CNN`s Kyung Lah standing by with new reporting, new information just coming in. But first, let`s go to CNN`s Omar Jimenez who`s on the scene for us in New Orleans.

Omar, first of all, give us the latest on the investigation and the video now being reviewed by authorities.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. So for starters, the FBI -- we knew the FBI did not believe that this driver was solely responsible for what happened, to use their words. And we also knew from them that they found an ISIS flag in the vehicle along with a potential IED, and that they found potential IEDs in the surrounding French Quarter area. Well, we are now learning from law enforcement sources that tell CNN that investigators have reviewed video that shows three men and a woman who they believe may have been involved in placing suspected IEDs in the French Quarter and that investigators also found writings that they believe support their going theory that this was inspired by ISIS. Of course, comes on top of the flag that was found as well.

And we know the FBI has said for most of the day that they have been investigating this as an act of Terrorism.

Now, there are also questions about how exactly this vehicle got around barricades that were installed years ago to sort of -- to try and prevent this very thing from happening. Well, we`re getting a glimpse of kind of how this happened specifically from some surveillance video from a business across the street from the key intersection here. It`s actually the intersection behind me from where I`m standing, you see a white pickup truck come down Canal Street, essentially behind where I am now. And then a police officer, what appears to be is sort of blocking Bourbon Street. But what you do see is that white pickup truck goes around that police officer and then goes into Bourbon street where again, we know this attack unfolded.

And we got a little clue from law enforcement today who told us that, well, those barriers just weren`t working. They were under repair at this point to try and get ready for the Super Bowl coming next month. And so instead they put police vehicles in front of some of those entry points, other barriers, to try and prevent some of this happening, but that -- this person went around these vehicles onto the sidewalk and was able to evade some of those barriers.

Now, there were a lot of extra people in town for a big college football game between Notre Dame and the University of Georgia. We also know from a shop owner that the packs were still -- the crowds were still packed on the streets at around 3:00 a.m. when this attack actually unfolded. So it was still very busy. We know that football game was pushed an extra day. But at the heart of this is still 10 people that were killed, 10 families who are trying to figure out in the opening hours of 2025 how to move forward after this attack that happened in just a few minutes, Wolf.

BLITZER: So awful and so sad indeed. Omar, I want you to stand by. I want to bring in our Senior Investigative Correspondent, Kyung Lah right now.

Kyung, what more are we learning about the man who was driving this truck that was used as a deadly weapon last night?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, piecing together much more of a profile of Shamsud-Din Jabbar, Wolf. And what we`ve been able to learn we`ve culled from public records as well as videos and information he himself has put online.

[17:05:10]

What you`re looking at here is an image of him from a YouTube video posted in 2020. It has since been taken down. This video, he has titled it Personal Introduction. He says that he was born in Beaumont, Texas. He talks about his service as an army -- as a member of the U.S. Army.

So he`s an army veteran. And his work in information technology as well as working in real estate. He says in that video that serving in the military taught him, quote, the meaning of great service and what it means to be responsive and take everything seriously, dotting I`s and crossing T`s to make sure that things go off without a hitch.

In that video, he is sitting next to a poster titled Discipline and near a book titled "Leadership." Now, authorities do confirm that he served in the U.S. Army. We do have a picture of him from that photo that was posted on Facebook from the U.S. Army. This is a picture of him in 2013. It`s a Facebook post from the U.S. Army again.

And he`s identified in this photo as an army staff sergeant working as an information technology team chief for the 82nd Airborne Division`s 1st Brigade Combat Team. And that was back then in 2013. He also posted an online resume where he describes how he graduated from Central Texas College in 2010 and he received a bachelor`s degree from Georgia State University in 2017. Georgia State does confirm that he did attend there and did graduate. And Texas records also show that he had a real estate license from 2019 and it expired in 2023.

And then the last thing, Wolf, that we found really interesting, because it sort of lays the financial picture of his life currently, is that he was in a divorce with his first wife and that in 2012, she had sued him for child support. But in 2022, he had submitted an e- mail talking about how he was struggling financially. He wrote that he had fallen behind in house payments, that he feared that he was nearing foreclosure, that he was behind more than $27,000 in payments. He also wrote that the business that he had talked about in that YouTube video, that it had also not made money. He`d lost $28,000 and he was $16,000 in credit card debt, Wolf.

BLITZER: Lots of new information. Kyung Lah, thank you. Omar Jimenez, thanks to you as well.

I want to break all of this down with our law enforcement experts. Andrew McCabe, let me start with you, what are the next steps right now for the FBI, and your former deputy director of the FBI, as they try to determine who the individuals placing these improvised explosive devices in the area are?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYSTS: Absolutely, Wolf, that is priority one for the FBI right now to identify and locate those individuals who they have captured in the surveillance video placing the IED devices which two -- at least two of which have been rendered safe and therefore are probably providing the Bureau with some evidence that they can use to compare to the device and the other evidence that`s been recovered from the truck. And so they may have a solid forensic connection between the IEDs which would only confirm their suspicion that those three men and one woman are related to or working in concert with the driver of the truck. So that`s the biggest potential threat the Bureau is probably focused on right now. And they are doing all the things that we have seen in these sorts of situations in the past. They are scouring video coverage to try to locate those folks and track their movements last night as they led up to the moment of placing the IEDs.

They`re trying to locate places to search. They`re trying to locate individuals who might know something about those folks. So it`s a lot of activity going on focused in that direction.

BLITZER: Critically important information they got to find out.

Mary Ellen O`Toole, you`re a former senior FBI profiler. What could these IEDs tell you about the perpetrators intention? Does that suggest to you that a larger attack was indeed planned?

MARY ELLEN O`TOOLE, FORMER FBI PROFILER: Certainly, and thank you for having me on. The IEDs will be very important for both from a behavioral as well as a forensic perspective. So forensically, the Bureau will be dismantling these devices and looking to see if they were likely each constructed by the same person. Bombers often have a signature, so they will be looking to see if it looks like one person put them together. They`ll also be looking for things like fingerprints and DNA that is left over on these devices.

That becomes extremely important. But at the same time, behaviorally, they`ll be looking at who are they aware of? Is there someone already out there that has come to their attention as someone that is a possible bomb maker in another case or in another incident? So, they`ll be looking at that as well.

[17:10:13]

And I think through the behavior and through the forensics is another way that they will be attempting to identify who this person is. And I think based on what they`ve already said about these IEDs, they were not just made to go off and make a loud sound. They were actually designed and constructed so that they would actually be weapons of lethality as well. So that goes to the intent of the people that were involved in this.

BLITZER: Stand by. Charles Ramsey is with us as well, the former Washington, D.C. Police chief, former police commissioner in Philadelphia.

Chief Ramsey, what are the challenges for law enforcement right now as they try to secure the French Quarter in New Orleans while conducting this investigation?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, first of all, we all know the French Quarter goes beyond just Bourbon Street. So you`ve got a pretty wide area that I`m certain that they are searching and trying their best to secure. Certainly we`re talking now about a vehicle attack. But again, you know, you`ve got a lot of pedestrians, especially this football game coming up. You have a lot of people that will be walking there, which makes them vulnerable.

So they delayed it a day to go over their security plan to do the best they can to probably push that perimeter out further, certainly lock it down from any vehicle traffic and things like that. Nothing`s going to be 100 percent. I mean, that`s just the way it is. But clearly the steps that were taken yesterday or early this morning were insufficient. When you look at that in one video, the way the truck was able to just easily maneuver past that patrol car, they`re going to have to reevaluate an awful lot when it comes to securing major events.

BLITZER: Good point.

Andrew, let me go back to you. Investigators have also found writings, writings that support investigators view right now that the suspect was inspired by ISIS. How critical is that in this investigation?

MCCABE: Well, Wolf, it tells us a lot about what brought that person to that moment in time. And it can also tell us about others who they may have interacted with, people they may have prepared devices with, they may have prepared for this attack with other people, trained with other people, received support from other people. So everything that this subject wrote left behind in terms of his own writings, his own activity on any devices, any electronics devices, telephones, that sort of thing that may have been seized through the searches we`ve seen taking place throughout the day. All of those, all of those items are going to help them get one step closer to the four other people they know they have to find and potentially others. There may be other people involved in this plot who did not appear on that surveillance video that we`ve been talking about for the last couple of hours.

So, they have a lot of intelligence that they need to collect and analyze to get a full picture of whether or not a critical threat to security still exists. We will not know the answer to that until we can confidently state whether or not he`s worked with other people. And do we have those folks under control or in some sort of custody?

BLITZER: Yes, good point.

Mary Ellen, given everything we know, at least so far, how concerned should we be about further attacks taking place? And specifically, how concerned should fans be who want to go to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans tomorrow night or go to the Super Bowl in New Orleans next month?

O`TOOLE: Again, a great question, and I think people need to be concerned. People need to be vigilant. So what they need to hear from authorities is that the case is being resolved. Here are the people that have been included in this, what investigatively has been exhausted in terms of leads. If it is left the way it was left today, where there`s still a lot of work that has to be done, and that`s simply a matter of fact when you have a case like this, but when it`s left like that, where we still have a lot more to do, what`s not being said is there may be some important points, some important leads that we`ve not been able to close yet. And that, for most people, should give them pause as to whether or not they might want to attend that game because they just simply cannot be guaranteed of their safety.

BLITZER: I know a lot of folks are worried about that. Everyone stand by. We`re going to continue this conversation. We`ll have much more on the investigation as we learn new details about the New Orleans attack.

Stay with us. You`re in The Situation Room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:18:48]

BLITZER: We`re following breaking news on the deadly truck ramming attack in New Orleans. The FBI revealing it believes the driver was not solely responsible. CNN`s Evan Perez is joining us right now getting new information.

You`re getting some clarification from law enforcement officials. What are you learning?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. Well, one of the things we have been focused on is the FBI certainly was looking at this surveillance video that at the time at least appeared to show that there were other people who may have been involved in placing devices in the French Quarter. Now we know that law enforcement now has determined that those people had nothing to do with this incident. At this point, it appears that those people seen on surveillance video did not have anything to do with replacing devices in the French, that this suspect, you know, was solely responsible certainly for the attack, at least as we know it at this point.

Now, we should make clear that the FBI is still looking at possible associates. They`re trying to see whether there`s anybody who may have been involved in helping to create the devices, the IEDs, whether those people -- anybody who might have been involved in helping to plan the attack. But at this point, at least for the -- on the part of the surveillance video, they now believe that those people had absolutely nothing to do with this actual attack that happened this morning, Wolf.

[17:20:10]

All right. Important information indeed. Thanks very much, Evan, for that.

I want to bring back our law enforcement experts. And Andrew McCabe, let me start again with you. Your reaction to this new reporting that we just heard from Evan.

MCCABE: Yes, that reporting is huge. I mean, it totally changes the situation that we think the bureau is in right now with our initial reporting was that they were essentially looking for four people who they represented at the press conference. They were pretty confident that this person did not act alone. They said they felt he was not solely responsible. That still may be the case, but at this point, Wolf, it doesn`t seem that we are publicly aware of, you know, a direct lead to individuals who are spotted anywhere, if they`ve already ruled out those four from the surveillance video.

So it doesn`t settle the issue. It doesn`t really make the picture any clearer for the FBI in terms of assessing the ongoing threat. It just means they have to resort to the sort of methods that they use after every one of these attacks, whether it`s a lone wolf offender or some sort of conspiracy, that they`ve got to go with the focus on the person who they know was involved and responsible, and that is, of course, the driver of the truck. And they`ve got to do all those things that we talked about in the last break. They`ve got to really drill down on his writings, his activity.

They have to identify locations where he has slept, lived, worked. They have to identify individuals who are also associated with those locations, be they friends, family, coworkers. They`ve got to start doing interviews of all these people. And really start to develop a picture of this person, who he was, what he -- what motivated him, how he might have changed in his radicalization that brought him to this moment where he staged this attack. So it`s through that sort of very detailed, very labor intensive investigative work that they`ll be able to shed more light as to whether or not he actually had other people working with him on this attack.

BLITZER: Yes, this investigation clearly is only just beginning right now.

Mary Ellen O`Toole, authorities, as we know, they mentioned this during the course of the day that they believe the attacker likely didn`t act alone. So where do you think this investigation goes from here?

O`TOOLE: I think at this point it`s very important that they ruled out that these people that they saw on video camera were not involved in the incident. But they still have to rule out that other people might have assisted him, just like Andy said. And that can be determined again through forensics. Is his the only fingerprints that they found in the truck? What about on the ISIS flagpole?

What about on some of the components of the IEDs? So they really do have to rule out that he did all of this by himself. And frankly, if he did all of this by himself, from the planning part to the construction of the IED, to getting the car to driving into New Orleans, that would be pretty phenomenal for him to do it. Not that it`s not possible, but it certainly would make him stand out because there`s just a lot of layers to this crime that almost really require demand that the FBI look to make sure other people weren`t involved. And maybe not side by side with him, planning every step of the way, but helping him as he got parts and components and did recons for him.

That absolutely has to be ruled out before I think people are going to feel safe that this has been an exhaustive investigation.

BLITZER: Yes, indeed. Chief Ramsey, how will authorities ensure that the Superdome in New Orleans is safe enough to play the Sugar bowl there tomorrow night? As we all know, it was supposed to go on tonight, but they`ve delayed it for 24 hours. Do you think that`s enough time?

RAMSEY: Well, yes, I do think it`s enough time. I mean, they have a security plan already. What they`re doing now is reviewing it to make sure that it`s going to be sufficient. And as I mentioned earlier, they`ll probably push the perimeters out further, treat this more like they would, the Super Bowl for an example, which my understanding is when they lock down that area for the Super Bowl, it`s a much wider area than they normally do for something like the Sugar Bowl. So I think they`re looking at all that.

But just if I can comment something on the four people that now apparently are cleared, and that`s good news. But if they found IEDs in the French quarters, somebody put them there. And so they`ve got to continue to go through the tape to find out was it the decedent? I mean, is he the one, the bad guy? Is he the one that put him there?

[17:25:04]

Was it someone else? But if they actually found IEDs, they didn`t just pop up there by themselves. So they`ve still got a lot of work to do. They may have cleared those four doesn`t mean that this thing is over.

BLITZER: Yes, an IEDs, improvised explosive devices, which are deadly, as we all know.

Andrew McCabe, how unusual is it for someone with Jabbar`s military background to have potentially become radicalized by ISIS?

MCCABE: It`s certainly not unheard of, Wolf. You know, we tend to think -- I mean, each -- I think the one thing you can say about individuals who are drawn to extremism and go through this period of radicalization, each one goes down that path in a slightly different way. When I was running the counterterrorism division in the FBI, we conducted a survey of every person we had convicted, all the results of the investigations that ended in convictions for charges related to terrorism, to try to look at every factor we knew about those people to distill those that were the most relevant to that radicalization experience. And by far the most relevant factor, the most common factor among all these convicted terrorists, people associated with terrorism, was the consumption of online propaganda. So it`s really, that`s the sort of thing that can happen to anyone.

It can happen to people born in this country, people who came to this country as immigrants. It can happen to people who were started out life in the religion that they then pursued an extreme belief in, or it can happen to people who converted to those beliefs later in life. It happens to the rich, to the poor, the highly educated, the uneducated, but all of them consume a high volume of online terrorist propaganda. So it`s really not so much the career factors that we see determining who goes in that direction, but really the behaviors that get them there.

BLITZER: Mary Ellen O`Toole is still with us. Mary Ellen, how could this new information about Shamsud-Din Jabbar`s background help investigators identify any other potential suspects?

O`TOOLE: Well, I think the background information is going to be important because it will help investigators to see who he has spent time with, who`s he communicated with, who`s he talked about concerning his life circumstances? Because there seems to have been a point in his life where things just went downhill for him and they continued to go downhill. And so who were the people that he reach to during that period of time to talk about what was happening and talking about, you know, what he thought about life and what was -- you know, what was happening with his job and with his marriage. So being able to do that point in time, personality assessment of him to see who was there when his kind of outlook on life changed is really going to be critical.

And I think that outlook on life change is something that I`ve seen in the behavioral analysis unit. When people start looking at their life and then start to develop a lot of reasons and excuses for why their life has taken such a downward spiral, taking no responsibility for it themselves. And I think that makes them even more vulnerable to a radicalization process where you can almost make your -- kind of your downward spiral in life seem almost better. Something to look up to.

BLITZER: Chief Ramsey, let me get a final thought from you on what`s going on.

RAMSEY: Well, I mean, everybody is still going all out to try to make sure that they`ve got as much security as they possibly can and that there are not other people that are associated with this at all. Again, they have more work to do. They`re going through cell phones, they`re going through social media. They`re really doing everything they probably can, exhausting every avenue that they possibly can to make sure this is not associated with something larger. And that`s where we are right now.

And again, this is a tragedy. This is something that unfortunately, in the world we live in now, not just New Orleans, but every single agency in the United States that handles large events need to pay attention to what`s going on there and make sure that they go over their security plans and make sure they lock it down sufficiently.

And even with that, this was a truck, this was a vehicle. What if he had walked in with an M16 or an AK47 and just sprayed the crowd? I mean, nothing`s going to be 100 percent, but you take all the steps you possibly can to keep people safe.

BLITZER: Yes, I`m sure a lot of people, not just in New Orleans, but elsewhere around the country right now are very nervous about what`s going on. To all of you, thanks for your excellent, excellent analysis.

Up next, we`ll have a closer look at where the deadly truck attack happened in the heart of one of the nation`s most popular tourist areas, New Orleans famous Bourbon Street.

[17:30:15]

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BLITZER: All right. We`re back with more breaking news out of New Orleans right now. I want to get right back to CNN`s Omar Jimenez. He`s on the scene for us there in New Orleans. What do we know right now, Omar?

JIMENEZ: Well, Wolf, we`re unfortunately getting a tragic update from the New Orleans coroner right now. We just got this statement in just a few moments ago that the death toll has unfortunately risen as of now, 15 people are dead. And the coroner stressed it will take several days to perform all autopsies. But remember, that initial death toll was 10. And we are just getting in right now that that number has now risen to 15 people.

And of course, we know dozens more were injured over the course of this. So whether some of those injured were unfortunately then slipped to death based on this particular number, we do not know just to this point. But moving forward, the coroner`s office says that we are deeply saddened by the tragic events that unfolded in the French Quarter. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with the victims, their families and everyone affected. Again, all of this happening within just the first few hours of 2025, Wolf.

[17:35:15]

BLITZER: So sad indeed. All right. Omar, thank you very, very much for that update.

I want to go to CNN`s Tom Foreman right now with a closer look at the location where all of this took place. Tom, Bourbon Street is, many of us know, have been there, one of the most recognizable and busiest areas in the city.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Wolf, when you look at the map of this attack, look, this truck was coming down Canal Street here, the widest main street in America. It turns in here 3:30 in the morning at a time the New Year, the Sugar Bowl, all of this happening. Bourbon Street end to end typically is just packed with people. This is where the -- the -- the attacks seem to begin in the sense of people being hit.

But really, the truck, if you look at the pictures, didn`t seem to stop until about here. If it had continued up into here, there would have been I -- I can`t imagine the count of people who would have died in that circumstance. It hit that large red cranes type device and stopped.

Nonetheless, this is one of the reasons that we need clarity on whether or not people can simply grieve this terrible event and look for answers or whether they need to be concerned about somebody else being out there. Because look at all the other areas so close by Jackson Square, Cafe du Monde right down here. So many people have visited. It`s right up in here. So many people have visited that`s merely blocks away. Preservation Hall, a great tourist attraction. Pat O`Brien`s a bar. So many young people go to there. Canal Street over here, we mentioned, huge, a lot of Mardi Gras parades there. They had a parade for the Sugar Bowl in this area just before this all happened. And of course, the Superdome right over here. You could walk from here all the way over here to Jackson Square in 30 minutes easily in a very relaxed fashion.

And this is a town that has lots and lots of people around it and they`ve taken security seriously. They`ve been aware of threats. There are very serious questions now as to what maybe wasn`t done right here. First of all, we have the Sugar Bowl that`s happening right now, 75,000 people maybe inside the Superdome, maybe more watch parties all over town.

Mardi Gras technically starts next Monday with the first parade. That`ll go on for about two months. About a million people will come town for that Jazz Fest, will get a half million or more in town. That`s coming up a little bit later this spring. The Super Bowl in just a little over a month.

These are huge events, all of which, if there is a threat out there, are all in a position of having to be concerned about it. And in fact, the NFL put out a tweet saying, deeply saddened by the news of this devastating event in New Orleans. Thoughts with the victims, the community and all those involved.

And the NFL and the local host committee have been working collaborative with local, state and federal agencies the past two years to develop a comprehensive security plan. They will go through with that plan. This is the thing, Wolf. Security plans like this, New Orleans has them, Louisiana has them. The question is, why didn`t they work here? Was this person just that determined or did something go wrong that made this determination work out in this terrible way?

BLITZER: Yes. That Super Bowl is coming up, what, just in -- in early February. So it`s going to be a huge, huge deal.

FOREMAN: Yeah. It`s right on top of us.

BLITZER: We`ll see what happens on that front. Tom Foreman, thank you very, very much.

Joining us now, the former U.S. Congressman, Cedric Richmond. He`s from Louisiana. Indeed, his district contained nearly all of the city of New Orleans. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. You`re there right now in New Orleans. What`s the mood like there as the city is reeling from this truly awful, awful situation?

CEDRIC RICHMOND (D), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Well, it`s a serious mood. It`s somber to some extent because we recognize that on New Year`s Eve, we all get together to celebrate the next year, one that we`re going into the next year to our hopes and dreams and aspirations for the next year and the fact that we`re surrounded by family and loved ones. And unfortunately, 15 people, their families got notices that they will not go into the New Year.

And it was done by evil act, evil person and many people injured. So we take it seriously. But the other thing I would say is New Orleans, we`ve been knocked down a lot. Whether it`s Katrina, Rita, whether it`s Betsy, we always get back up. And we get back up with optimism. And that optimism is born out of the fact that we love each other so much.

We band together during the hard times and we`re going to get through this. We will not let the terrorists win. But there will be a moment of grieving and we respect that. But just like any New Orleans funeral, after the funeral, we celebrate the life and the legacy of the people that we lost. And we will do that in New Orleans.

BLITZER: This is just the latest example, Congressman, of a vehicle used as a weapon in an attack. Do you think there was a security breakdown, a blunder from local police going into this?

RICHMOND: I don`t, Wolf. And I -- I`ll tell you, you saw vehicle attacks in New York. You saw vehicle attacks in Wisconsin. You saw them in Berlin. And I think in Berlin they specifically said that bollards would not matter. So if you look at New Orleans, he went around the barricades that were set up, but he could have very easily driven down the sidewalks on Canal Street. He could have went down Decatur Street, he could have went down Frenchman Streets, all of which were packed with people.

[17:40:24]

And so for terrorists, they have to get it right one time. We have to get it right 100 percent of the time. And so while it`s serious and important to look at the breakdowns and what we can do better and where we can do, it`s also, you know, I think it`s also important to recognize that they keep getting more and more creative.

We never thought that terrorists use planes as weapons, but they did that on 9/11, and we lost nearly 3,000 people. So we have to band together as elected officials, as security chiefs and leaders, and make sure that we do the best we can to save as many lives as we can, with the goal being to save each and every life.

BLITZER: Yes. So important indeed. Former congressman Cedric Richmond, thanks so much for joining us.

RICHMOND: Thank you for having me.

BLITZER: All right, just ahead, there`s more breaking news. A Tesla cybertruck explosion at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas is now being investigated as a possible act of terrorism.

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[17:45:35]

BLITZER: There`s breaking news we`re following. A law enforcement official tell CNN that a Tesla cybertruck explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas is now being investigated as a potential act of terrorism. CNN`s Veronica Miracle is joining us right now. Veronica, you`re doing a lot of reporting on this. What are you learning? VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, when we heard from investigators a couple of hours ago, they were very tight with their information and they were not able to confirm a whole lot of details as they had so many questions themselves. But we have new reporting. Our John Miller is actually kind of connecting some of the dots here.

He heard from a law enforcement official close to the investigation that the cybertruck was actually rented from Turo. That is the same car rental company that was used by the suspect in New Orleans. Now, as is standard, according to this source, they are seeing if there is a connection between the New Orleans attack and the explosion. But as of this writing, they have not yet found a connection.

That source also revealed what was inside the truck, explosives that included fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel. And authorities believe that was connected to a detonation system controlled by the driver. We`re also hearing this same sentiment from Elon Musk who tweeted out that they have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented cybertruck and is unrelated to vehicle itself. So he was clear to say that this was not an issue with the cyber truck.

And the sheriff also earlier said that they are checking for secondary devices. They`re investigating many different leads. But he was clear to say that there -- does not appear to be any further threat to the Las Vegas community. In total, one person, the driver, died. Investigators have not revealed this person`s identity. Seven other people were injured with minor injuries. And we are expecting another press conference in the next couple of hours. We`ll bring you more details as soon as we get them. Wolf?

BLITZER: Well, we`ll stay in touch with you. Veronica Miracle, thank you very, very much. And we`ll be right back with more news.

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[17:51:46]

BLITZER: The new CNN film, Luther: Never Too Much follows the legendary singer Luther Vandross. CNN anchor Victor Blackwell got access to the opening of the Luther Vandross exhibit at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, where he spoke to Luther`s lifelong friends, collaborators and the director of the film, Dawn Porter, about Luther`s legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voiceover): Singer, songwriter, producer, eight-time Grammy winner with 11 consecutive platinum or double platinum selling albums.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Luther Vandross.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Millions of fans around the world know his unmistakable voice and classic love songs. But what you may not know is the story of how he became a star. FONZI THORNTON, MUSICIAN AND FRIEND OF LUTHER VANDROSS: The day that I met him, it was clear to me, this dude is going to wind up being on the radio. First of all, he sang better than everybody. He had a vision about how he sang.

LUTHER VANDROSS, SINGER-SONGWRITER AND RECORD PRODUCER: Because I try to do songs that I think I can do differently, you know, and that I think fit me, you know, sort of like a -- what somebody chooses to wear.

BLACKWELL (voice over): Luther was inspired by the icons, The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick. And before his solo career, Luther grew to be a top background vocalist.

VANDROSS: I used to sing background vocals for Roberta Flack on the road, and Roberta sometimes would have interviews, and sometimes she`d be unable to show up at soundchecks. So, I would sing her songs for her in soundchecks to test her microphone.

BLACKWELL (voice over): And throughout his career, Luther kept those friends from the early days close.

DAWN PORTER, DIRECTOR, "LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH": One of the many, many things that`s so impressive about Luther over the course of his life is how his friends have remained so constant. I really wanted to have people who could tell you how he laughed, could tell you how he was silly, could tell you about him as a person.

BLACKWELL: What -- what memories come back about Luther, when you see these relics, these artifacts from that period?

MARCUS MILLER, MUSICIAN AND FRIEND OF LUTHER VANDROSS: There`s people who can sing. There are people who can arrange. There are people who can play. But Luther wanted to be -- he had a vision of the entire thing.

BLACKWELL (voice over): What most fans probably don`t know is that Luther meticulously designed every aspect of his shows, the costumes, the lighting and choreography.

PORTER: I love talking to people who were the like O.G. Luther fans. And they`re like, you cannot tell me something I don`t know. And then they`re all like, what, what, what? That`s a really interesting thing with a -- with a black artist, is he literally was everywhere. He just wasn`t always visible. I really like to think of this as also a celebration of black music.

BLACKWELL (voice over): And that`s what this film is, a celebration of Luther`s artistry and a deeper look at the man, professionally and personally.

THORNTON: He called me from L.A., where he was living. He said, listen, I`m nominated for best R&B vocal. I`m not going to win anyway. Why don`t you come out and hang out with me? And we went to the Grammy`s and he won for "Here and Now." This is a dude I met in the projects, and here he`s winning a Grammy. [17:55:01]

PORTER: When you kind of travel through time with this movie and with Luther`s journey, you remember these moments, these spectacular moments. This is all part of American culture. It`s not just black culture, it`s American culture.

BLACKWELL (voice over): Nearly 20 years after his passing, Luther still inspires artists and fans through the power of his voice.

Victor Blackwell, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Be sure to tune in. The all new CNN film Luther: Never Too much premieres tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. We`ll be watching.

Coming up, we`ll get back to our top story, the breaking news out of New Orleans. Stand by for all the latest details on the Bourbon Street massacre.

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[17:59:54]

BLITZER: Happening now, breaking news. The death toll rises to 15 in the New Year`s Eve attack in New Orleans. A Louisiana senator joins us this hour to tell us what he`s learning about the investigation and the FBI`s belief that the truck driver did not, I repeat, not act alone.