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erika: i love seeing interns succeed, i love seeing them come back and join the engagement teams and seeing where they go from there, i get to watch their personal growth, it makes my heart happy. (laughs) announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" hello, i'm christian fraser. you're watching the context on bbc news. this is where the attack began. that white pick-up truck moving down the street moving towards the directions we're in before moving down towards this junction here. let me be very clear about this point. this was an act of terrorism. it was premeditated

and an evil act. this is a lone actor. therefore, we are confident that we can open bourbon street and the rest of our city. new orleans pauses to remember - tonight, a minute's silence at the superdome to remember the victims of the new year's day massacre. the fbi say the driver of the truck that killed 14 people on burbon street, was 100% inspired by isis. we will bring you reaction from the city, including the eye witness account from two very lucky survivors. also tonight - the flood waters subsiding in northern england but freezing temperatures hampering the clean-up and rescue, with new snow and ice alerts in place for large parts of the country. and 166 million years old - the enormous dinosaur foot prints discovered in an oxfordshire quarry. good evening, the fbi say

they have a much clearer picture of the events leading up to the terrorist attack in new orleans on new year's day. that information leads them to believe, that the driver of the truck, military veteran shamsud-din jabbar was acting alone. the investigators, say jabbar rented the utility truck he used in the attack, in houston, texas, on decenber 30th. then drove it from houston to new orleans arriving late on new year's eve. new images released of the incident show the truck driving at high speed down burbon street, directly at the people standing in his way. just a few hours before the attack jabbar had posted five videos on his facebook account in which he announced his support for the so called islamic state. an isis flag was recovered from the back of the vehicle. there were five videos posted on jabbar's facebook account which are time stamped

beginning at 1:29am and the last at 3:02am. in the first video, jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the, "war between the believers and the disbelievers". the fbi said they recovered two improvised explosive devices that were left in ice boxes, one on the cross section of bourbon and orleans street and the second at an intersection two blocks away. officials now have surveillance footage that shows jabbar placing the devices where they were found. an address in mandeville, a city near new orleans, is still being searched for potential evidence. we know that he specifically picked out bourbon street. not quite sure why. i mean, i think one can assume that it was because there were lots of people, new year's eve, you know with a target for an attack. that's the stuff in the coming

days, as far as that path to radicalisation goes, that we're really going to be digging into and making a priority of. so what i can tell you right now is that he was 100% inspired by isis. it will be some relief to people in new orleans to hear jabbar was working alone. tonight there are thousands of football fans in the city for the sugar bowl. the quarterfinal between georgia and notre dame which was postponed for 24 hours to give the authorities more time. carl nasman is in new orleans. and on, as you can see, bourbon street. why don't you give us a show and tell around the area so we can see what it looks like. christian, just about an hour ago bourbon street reopening to pedestrians only, but this is the first look we're starting to get that attack took place and also the city is starting to move forward, beginning to recover from this attack. i want to

show you you the way the city is grieving and mourning the 14 victims of that attack on new year's day. you can see here 14 yellow roses along with the mardi gras beads, these were laid during a ceremony, christian, that took place before bourbon street reopening. we were hearing from the head of police here, they said it was very important that that type of ceremony happened before they let people come back and begin to have fun and carry on the traditions we always see her on bourbon street, gathering of local religious leaders. i do want to show you something else, because there will be questions asked about security on the day and how this was able to take place. you can see behind me, this is a security barrier. this was here on new year's day. this is lifted now, but on the night of the attack it was down, so traffic and obviously the attacker was able to drive on to bourbon street, reportedly, according to local media, the concern was it could

get stuck in an up position, that might've prevented emergency services from driving and if that was necessary, that was the concern why it wasn't lifted on the day and that is the thinking about why that wasn't actually in place and ready. if you can look here now, we are going to walk into bourbon street. these are new in place, new security measures you might often see them during mardi gras but this has now been placed by local authorities, they said look, we are confident bourbon street is safe but what we want to make sure is that the public feel safe. these yellow barriers here, that's part of that process, part of trying to make sure that the people feel they can return to normal life or at least as close as they can. we'll just make our way a little into bourbon street, you can see lots of fans out now, football fans, notre dame fan here hitting ready for the sugar bowl. that will start off in about an hour or so, plenty of georgia fans here, too. business is beginning to reopen, people returning to bourbon street, obviously this is not, though, how they wanted this day to play out. homeland

security department had warned law enforcement last month of potential for vehicle ramming by loan offenders over the holidays. it almost seems as though they described what unfolded there in new orleans, that must be a huge frustration for people in the city, knowing that the warnings were out there. we did here actually from the chief of police who said, you know, she was asked, are you frustrated that these sorts of measures weren't in place, that those yellow barriers were in here on new year's day? she said frustrated isn't the word, but you know, looking back, it's 20/20. this was a terrorist hell bent on causing destruction, and whatever was in place he would have found his way around it. that's the feeling here right now. this is a city used to large events, mardi gras takes place here, the sugar bowl, 16,000 people are going to be

here attending that. and the super bowl will be hosted again this year. the city that on the one hand is used to be being able to handle it, but we note security measures will be doubled down, there will be some revaluations not just in new orleans but cities across the country, obviously countries will be looking at this, too, to see how attack like this can be prevented in the future. it's going to be an emotional night, no doubt, in the stadium tonight. carl now has been, thank you very much for that. for that. -- nasman. joining me now are ruth and jonathan chavez, they are mother and son. they were on bourbon st on new year's day at the time of the attack. they are extremely lucky to be unharmed. if i can start with you, ruth, why don't you describe to us where you were when the truck came down the street. we were on bourbon street, walking

around and my son is only 17 years old so we weren't able to go into a lot of places. so we were just kind of hanging out on the streets enjoying the music and the people, having a good time, and we saw these doors open with some live music being played so we walked in there, and within a few minutes that we were inside, we heard the gunshots and the people that, the bar that we were at, they shut the doors and they told us all to get down. and they locked us in there. and we were in there probably about five minutes, we took cover and when we walked out we saw the truck that was crashed right in front of us, right in front of where we were at and we didn't really even know what happened, we didn't know it was just an accident and then we saw people on the floor and first responders giving cpr and we stood there and watch them try to save this young kid that was similar in age to my son. so i

got really emotional, i was in shock and just washing them trying to save this young kid -- watching them try to save this young kid. the police put up their police tape and made us leave. so we were very lucky because if we wouldn't have stepped foot in the bar, we would've been in the direct path of that truck. what we heard yesterday from a lot of local people is that this, and you can see it from the video, the truck coming down the street, it's a very narrow street. and obviously the music is coming out of the bars. do you think, jonathan, you would have heard the truck coming if you had been out on the street? i wouldn't know, but i come alike, in the videos that they show, he's going so, so fast. and who knows if we would have heard it or been aware, because all i remember, we were having

a good time, we were just focused on what we were doing and who knows if he was just lying down and we weren't just paying attention. he was going really fast and everything happened so, so quickly. and it was just so tragic and it was very graphic, too. it was sad. yet, it sounds graphic. and there you are, trying to help this young man, ruth, how have you process what you've been through? i don't think we really had time to process it. just walking back after the tragedy, walking back to our motel, it was really quiet and i was in tears, and it was just a very, like... it was just a really awful feeling that i felt in my heart because there was just nothing we could do. and we had to get on the aeroplane the next day so the whole process of getting back

to new mexico and coming home last night, it's just been kind of like a nightmare but i'm sure grateful that we are alive and we had stepped foot in that bar, because we wouldn't be here either. there are so many people that didn't make it home and we were very lucky to be able to get on that plane and come home. i know, jonathan, which was postponed. wasn't just the travel arrangements or did you not feel safe in the city after what had happened? >> it was mostly the travel arrangements. >> we were in town for the saints and raiders game. >> did you not feel safe enough to stay? was there a feeling that you just wanted to get out yesterday? >> our flight was originally booked for new year's day to come home. christian: just pick up on that

thought i was discussing, the bollards which were down yesterday, the view was taken that they needed to be updated in time for the super bowl, so there were makeshift bollards in place. what are your feelings about that given the warnings ever given by the homeland security department? >> i think they should have definitely taken the precautions with everything going on right now, it's a thing with these terrorist threats, and they carry them out. when you are dealing with that many people, places are saturated like that, it's so important to take those threats serious and do everything possible to keep all of these innocent people safe that are out there, to have a good time with our family. christian: ruth and jonathan chavez, we are glad that you are safe. i know it's not easy to talk about but thank you very much. we will take a short break.

around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbc news. ♪

christian: u.s. authorities say there is no apparent connection linking the attack in new orleans with the explosion of that tesla cybertruck outside the trump international hotel las vegas yesterday. even though there are some curious similarities. the dead men recovered from the vehicle has been named. he is a 37-year-old green beret who was with the 10th special forces, served in afghanistan, was on leave at the time. he, too, crossed state lines driving the cybertruck from colorado to nevada recharging at various stations along the way. the fbi said the vehicle was first spotted on the strip earlier in the day pulling into the hotel just after 7:00 in the morning and then returning to park one hour later.

it exploded 17 seconds after coming to a standstill. the agent said the man inside the tesla had shot himself before it exploded. >> there are a number of things in this case that are similar to the attack in new orleans. we do know that our subject here served in the military, in fact a current member of the military. both of the subjects served at fort bragg, north carolina. what we know about that is, it's a very large military base and we have no record that they served in the same unit or even in the same years at fort bragg, something that remains to be under investigation. christian: we are in las vegas. if they are not connected and we just heard the suggestion that they are not, it is a remarkable series of coincidences and the two attacks staged on the same day. >> there really are, both on new year's day, but with people, as he heard, served in the military.

in fact, the person believed to have done that here, he is in the green beret, an elite branch of the military, and the crossover at fort bragg. in afghanistan as well reportedly in the year 2009. law enforcement officials being very careful about drawing any conclusions and really treating both of these incidents as separate. christian: they didn't talk about really in that press conference, motive. >> absolutely right. we do not have a motive from law enforcement officials at this point. i think that is really something that so many have questions about. one official did say something that i found striking here in the press conference in las vegas one hour ago, and they said it is not lost on them that this incident in las vegas took place in front of the trump hotel, trump building, and it involves a tesla vehicle.

the ceo of tesla of course is elon musk, who has forged a very close relationship with the president-elect as of late. he has been very visible, heading up, along with vivek ramaswamy, the department of government efficiency, aimed at cutting back federal spending. his presence in this feature administration has not been welcomed necessarily by all. christian: the truck was packed with explosives, weapons in the back and also a hand gun in the driver's footwell. >> exactly right. in addition to the fireworks and fuel enhancers we knew about from what law enforcement officials said yesterday, this morning, we learned there were multiple firearms in the vehicle. the subject of the vehicle had in fact sustained a gunshot wound to the head and a handgun was found at his feet in the vehicle. you have to understand, you saw the explosion, you saw the visuals.

law enforcement talked about this today, that the person's body was so badly burned, they are in the beginnings of this investigation. what we did see was that there was military identification, passport connected to the person you mentioned, located inside that vehicle. law enforcement said they would only definitively say that livelsberger was the subject in the vehicle when they can confirm positively with dna evidence. christian: thank you very much indeed for that. new orleans is the deadliest isis inspired attack they have had on u.s. soil in several years. there was a 2015 shooting by a husband and wife team who killed 14 people in san bernardino, california. 2016, a massacre occurred at a nightclub in orlando but a gunman who killed 49 people and similarly pledged his allegiance on a 91 one call to the then isis leader.

perhaps there was this perception that the threat had gone away. just this past summer, the fbi director christopher wray said he was hard-pressed to think of a time in my career with so many different kinds of threats were all elevated at once. clearly going forward that has implications for some big upcoming events, funeral of the late president jimmy carter, inauguration, and next month, the super bowl in new orleans. joining me now to discuss is dr. matthew levitt, the director of the counterterrorism program at the washington institute, also a former fbi agent. you are very welcome to the program. let's pick up one of the's luminaries between these two men in terms of the threat level. both served in the military, one a veteran, one still serving. >> thanks for having me on the program. that is very concerning because when people come out of the military when serving in the military, they are learning some

unique skill sets. i think it's important to remember that of the overall percentage of people who are serving or have served, compared to the number of people that come to the military and have engaged in acts of violence, it's a very small number. it is large enough, however that people are concerned and looking within the u.s. military and organizations outside the military come at what more can be done to prepare people who are leaving the military to enter society, leave a place where violence is a part of your life and go into a place where it is not supposed to be. it is too early to say if the military link between these two mark something different than what was or if it was really a coincidence that you had two people carry out attacks at a time when people who tend to carry out attacks, not because there is significance to it for any particular militant group, but because there are lots of people out and about, lots of media attention.

we need to wait until more information comes out, as you heard from law enforcement. they have no definitive time between the people yet despite serving at the same base in different times. we will know more fairly quickly and we should try not to speculate. christian: obviously, we have good experience of this here in europe. there is a difference between isis-inspired and isis-directed. one of the things the directors will need to ascertain is whether he was inspired online from videos he searched himself or was he conspiring with others overseas? and that is an important factor. >> absolutely. again, too early to know for sure but it is statistically far more likely to be a homegrown violent extremists inspired by material he consumed, that was put out on social media for anyone interested to be able to dip into. far more likely that would be the case that he was actually in touch with actual isis personnel, or even more so that

he was directed by someone, a foreign directed attack. we have had very few of those in the united states. the last i can think of was the military base in pensacola, florida, which was not islamic state but al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. christian: how do you think this affects those big events coming up, notably the inauguration, funeral of jimmy carter? >> for the average person watching tv, there have not been a lot of successful attacks, thank god, it maybe this threat is not so big. for people that follow it closely, the fbi and others, you mentioned director wray, this is an ongoing day-to-day threat. we have about a dozen major cases a year that are thwarted and many more ongoing. from the law enforcement and intelligence perspective, the surprise is that these attacks were both successful, devastating.

the surprise is not that a perpetrator try to carry them out. for me, what the big take away is, there is no such thing as 100 percent success among law enforcement and intelligence. the bad guys have to get it right once and will carry out an attack. we have to get it right every single time and that is just not possible. we will find out if something was missed. that may not necessarily be the case. it is just not possible to stop every bad person from doing something wrong all the time. christian: yet, joe biden has talked about the threat over the horizon, talked about that when they withdrew from afghanistan. director wray has talked about the recruitment efforts from isis, isis-k linked to afghanistan. a few weeks ago, donald trump said not our fight when talking about the collapse of the regime in syria. but we know there is a resurgent isis group in syria, and we know what happens when a vacuum is left. do you think this perhaps

changes the way that donald trump will view foreign policy? >> not likely. in part because it is not likely we are going to see a direct connection either to afghanistan or syria. i don't know but it is not the most likely scenario. these things will be shaped, as politicians will shape them. it is the case that finding counterterrorism over the horizon is much more difficult when you are not there. but these two incidents will not necessarily have bearing on that because they will most likely be cases of homegrown violent extremism. my biggest concern about syria, frankly, is that we have isis fighters who have been in detention since isis suffered a territorial defeat. if someone is not there to detain them or to get them to their home countries to be detained and tried, then we could see them go free, break out of prison.

the situation that we have enjoyed the past few years where isis has been less of a threat is not something we can take as a given. we have to keep at that. christian: good to talk to you tonight. thank you for coming on the program. let me leave you with pictures from new orleans we can show you. the sugar bowl game about to begin in the next half hour between georgia and notre dame. plenty of people there, lots of security, extra officers brought in, as well as the sniffer dogs to r announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

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