around what is to come of the sugar bowl, which was supposed to be played at the super dome tonight, and we are waiting for more information from officials around that as well, and i can tell you this morning, they wanted people to go about their day here in new orleans, but it's hard to imagine how you have the information you need at that hour to make that determination. and that's another question i have for officials frankly, what has changed over the last several hours and changing their outlook on what they want to see in the city over the next 24 hours or so. we're waiting for a stream of officials in the elevator banks, waiting for our opportunity to do that. i can tell you a short time ago, we saw people in official jackets with their names on them. it would appear to be the seal of the city, escorted by an officer brandishing a weapon, a firearm, across his chest, so definitely a heightened sense of security around here. i have seen homeland security

vehicles in the area, unclear if that was here already because of the event that was planned at the super dome tonight, a massive college football game, but either way, definitely a heightened security presence here in a very fluid situation in the city of new orleans right now. send it back to you. >> thank you, nbc's jesse kirsch, we'll let you get ready for the press conference. as we reported, we are hearing the sugar bowl game is delayed until tomorrow. ken, what more do we know about these improvised explosive dices, the size, the scope and the viability of what he had. >> the fbi in their latest statement confirmed that ieds were found in the struck and around the truck. they are investigating whether they were viable devices, and that can take a while sometimes, you know, bombs can be complicated contraptions, and so it may take some experts from the atf to determine how viable these devices were. but it suggests a complex attack. look, we've seen these many of these vehicle attacks on crowds

in the past going back more than a decade in europe, in germany, in france, and in 2017, in lower manhattan that killed seven people in new york city. that one was isis-inspired. we have not seen an attack that involved both a vehicle and the firing of a weapon, and ieds combined. those three things. that suggests a level of planning that is frightening and may explain why officials are taking precautions, things like postponing a huge football game that would have drawn crowds to the city, and brings out everything they may have known about this attack. >> ken dilanian, thank you so much. chris, i want to turn to you now, what does it tell you that they're delaying this huge football game that all of these people have come into town for. does that make it seem like they're concerned about a threat? >> it could tell us they are not quite sure what they have yet. the if i first thing they wante

do was positively identify the subject. the next steps is find out his connectivity. is it isis-inspired, directed , are there other individuals that may carry out follow on attacks. out of an abundance of caution, i'm sure they are trying to take a little pause before moving forward with something. and there's got to be a reason for that. this is not arbitrary. what you don't want to do in response to terrorism is make drastic changes to your society. that's one of the goals of terrorist organizations so this is a difficult decision, but they're probably doing it for a good reason. >> and what is your reaction to the news that the suspect, you know, was born in texas, but reportedly had this isis flag on his track . >> not to jump to conclusions here, it leads me to believe it's probably more likely that not isis-inspired. hooegs it looks like he's a convert or

revert to islam. they tend to go over the top and more extreme for credibility in their, you know, conversion to the religion. it looks like his conversion is more recent than not from what i am being told. it looks a little more extreme. the fbi along with the rest of the intelligence community is looking at are there any concrete connections to isis or affiliated groups. was he directed? and what platforms was he on that inspired him? >> and you can see on the left side of your screen, it looks like they're getting ready for this press conference. frank, i want to ask you, you know, bourbon street is a massive party, not just during mardi gras but any occasion. give us a sense of what it's going to take to process this scene, including critical evidence from that pickup truck? >> yeah, it's a pain staking, methodical process. they will take all the time day need. they're not going to succumb to pressure, reopen bourbon street, if they say it's not time yet.

so bullet fragments, you know, this introduction of the idea he may have been firing a long gun while driving through the crowd or prior to, you've got to recover shell casings, bullet fragments. and imagine trying to collect latent prints and dna off of that, preserving it carefully. and the truck itself will eventually get moved. and processed likely elsewhere. so that will handle that issue right there. but all of the security cameras emerging the cctv videos, you know, from a place like bourbon street where there's maybe hundreds if not thousands of businesses with cameras, maybe city-owned cameras, police officer body cameras, all of that has to get merged and the almost endless victim interviews. some of the victims in the hospital not able to speak right now, but they will need to give statements later, as will all the witnesses. don't be surprised if at the

press conference today, we hear a call for, look, if you saw something, if you have video footage, if you've got something on your phone, we want it, and here's how you can send that to us. >> speaking of victims, we have new updates, unfortunately we are hearing from a senior law enforcement official, the death toll has risen to 15. jim, i want to turn to you, what about the idea that this happened around 3:15 a.m. i found that surprising because you don't think of that as being a peak time when the crowds would have been the biggest. does that tell you anything? >> it's probably some preoperational surveillance by the killer. i believe he's probably driving around, you know, that area of new orleans looking, scoping it out, and, you know, certainly around midnight. you know, did these other devices that were reportedly found, did he toss them from the truck? did the go he go out and walk o and plant them somewhere. we don't have all of those answers. like frank said, are they viable? are they just, you know, pipe

bombs he was going to light and toss or something? we're not sure, and i doubt he's driving around for hours and hours on end with an isis flag. it's certainly possible. >> i want you to stand by just a second. we're going to go to the news conference. please hold on just a minute. >> good afternoon, everyone, my name is duncan, thank you for being here today and for your patience. i want to acknowledge the victims of today's horrific attack. the fbi and our partners are working diligently to investigate and find answers on behalf of the citizens, residents of louisiana, and everyone visiting the city. i'm going to provide facts and information about what we do now. all of you will have questions, and we will try to provide some answers. this is an ongoing investigation that's rapidly evolving. there will be some questions i'm

unable to answer at this time. the fbi is a lead investigative agency, and we are investigating as an attack of terrorism, along with our partners. today at approximately 3:15 a.m. central standard time, an individual drove a pickup truck into a crowd on bourbon street in new orleans. killing at least ten individuals and injuring dozens more. after hitting the crowd, he exited the vehicle and fired upon local law enforcement. law enforcement returned fire, and the subject was pronounced deceased at the scene. two law enforcement officers were injured and transported to local hospitals. the subjected has been identified as a u.s. born citizen from texas. he was driving a ford pickup truck, and we are working to confirm how the subject came in possession of this vehicle. 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. weapons and ieds were located in the subject's vehicle, other potential ieds were located in the nch quarter. as of now, two ieds have been found and rendered safe. the fbi bomb technicians as well as our local law enforcement partners have been working to determine if any of these devices are viable and they will work to render the devices safe. the fbi, we are working with partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism. we are aggressively running down the leads to identify the possible bject's associates. we are working to ensure there is no further threat. we do not believe jabar was solely responsible. we need the public's help. we are asking if anyone has

intersections with jabar in the last 72 hours, you contact us. the fbi is asking anyone with information, video or pictures to provide it to the fbi. we have set up a digital tip line as well as 1-800-call fbi. provide us with information that can assist in the investigation. once again, thank you for your patience and assistance. for updated statements or information check the fbi's web site and social media accounts. i'll turn it over to mayor cantrell. can. >> thank you, agent duncan for your leadership and the full support of the fbi. first and foremost, i want to express my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones

that were impacted by this tragedy. on bourbon street in the heart of the city of new orleans, and i know the entire city council grieves right along with me, no doubt about that. and our people and our families. my priority will be to continue to be to ensure that victims that remain on bourbon street now will be serviced and removed as soon as possible, but as stated, the fbi is in charge of this investigation and are doing everything necessary to make this happen. i also want to acknowledge hearing from president biden, all of our federal partners, but most importantly calling governor landry this morning, responded with haste, and we do

say thank you, and of course a demonstration of a unified support is right here in this room. that's how we collectively responded to this tragedy in the city of new orleans. the mission now is to facilitate, support and coordinate safety procedures to keep our residents and our visitors safe. i have gone to the hospital along with chief kirkpatrick to visit our police officers and considering their injuries, they're doing well. as i mentioned, this investigation is ongoing and the fbi remains the lead in the investigation. it is an active crime scene as well. we are committed, no doubt, to uncovering all details surrounding this tragedy, and we

are taking every necessary step to put even more safety procedures in place, especially given the nature of the investigation. i'm going to ask people to do not go around our secure area. if there is no essential need to do so. it matters, and again, it is an active crime scene. i also want you all to know that the greater new orleans foundation has set up a fund to assist victims, and that information will be provided to you. thank you. again, i want to thank this unified team. we're leaning in. we will be relentless, and we will do everything that it takes to render real justice. this team will. i want to also just thank our

citizens for your heartfelt prayers. new orleans is a world class city, and i can say that i have heard from world leaders all this morning and up until now in addition to my brother and sister mayors across this country. they're calling, they're responding, and they're standing with the city of new orleans and what they always say and want me to reiterate, they understand the resilience of this community, and we're strong in that regard. and i will say second to none. so with that, i'm ing to turn it over to our governor. and as i mentioned, who has not wavered any in leaning in and providing the necessary support and standing right here with me, and i say thank you, governor, and i know the first lady is standing with us as well. >> thank you, madame mayor, thank you. again, i want to thank the mayor. since about 3:45 this morning, when she called me, we have all

been working just around the clock to both secure the city and to solve -- you know, again, i want to reiterate that our prayers go out with all of those who have been affected by this tragedy. i want to thank our law enforcement officers. i want to thank our medical personnel. i want to thank our first responders, and most importantly, i want to thank the two new orleans police officers who not only laid their life on the line but were able to eliminate the threat this morning. let me say we have made public safety, a priority since day one. if you look at me, and look at the people standing around, that is their commitment as well. we intend to be transparent in assessing any defects that may have existed in the system so that we can address them. it's the only way to ensure that

any mistakes that were made are corrected. specifically we have been trying and working very diligently to address security concerns in preparation for the super bowl since october. and it's interesting because, or ironically, in preparation for the super bowl, i had intended to issue an emergency declaration tomorrow so that we could bring all of our federal, state, and local agencies to bear, in reparation for the super bowl, and mardi gras. but because of the events today, i have amended that emergency declaration, and issued it today. so, again, that declaration will allow our federal, state and local partners to bring all of the resources necessary to get this city safe. in light of that executive order, i have also ordered the

mobilization of a military police company. i've asked general freeliu to assist new orleans police and lsp, and the fbi. it is important for our citizens and guests of this state to know that we are doing everything we can to secure their safety and this city. we want to make it clear the super dome and the surrounding area is safe. but i've always said that the safety of the entire city is something that is always paramount to me. with that, i would like to turn it over to jeff. over to jeff.

>> good afternoon, obviously we wish we are weren't here for this reason today. the super bowl committee has a 90-year history at being a good corporate citizen for the city of new orleans, and that's why this tragedy hurts us as much as anybody right now. so our condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families as they all work through this. of course, anytime we have a maenw orleans, public safety is paramount, and we have full faith and confidence in the governor and the mayor and all the assets , the federal, state and local resources they've applied to this event so that we can ultimately bring those responsible to justice and carry on with the major events that we have in front of us. speaking of which, we were

scheduled this evening to have a cfp quarter final played in the super dome at 7:45. 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 and public safety that we postpone the game for 24 hours. work is fast about to set up a safe and efficient and fun environment for tomorrow night. there will be more details on that in the coming hours, but for now, that's the plan that we're going to move forward and play the game, and, again, we reiterate our thanks to everyone up here for the important work they're doing. we live in the fun and games world with what we do. but we certainly recognize the importance of this, and we're going to support it 100%.

so thank you. >> i'd like to bring up senator kennedy. >> i wish i understood better why bad things happen to good people. if i make it to heaven, i'm going to ask. i'm going to ask for those people who don't believe in objective evil, all you have to do is look at what happened in our city early this morning. in our city early this morning. if this doesn't trigger the gag reflex of every american, every fair-minded american, i'd be very surprised. i'm here because these are my

people. i'm here because these are my people's friends. i'm here because there are a lot of louisianans that are scared tonight. i don't want them to be. there's a lot of information going around. some of it is actually rue. some of it isn't. the federal government is now in charge of this investigation. by that i mean the white house, the fbi, the department of homeland security and the department of justice. i have not talked to the fbi. maybe they've talked to my staff. i don't know. i did talk to the secretary of homeland security a little while ago, and i told him that with all the respect i could muster, that we expect to put the full force and resources of the federal government behind this

investigation. our tate troopers, our local police departments, our sheriffs, we've got many sheriffs here today that have been terrific. so far, the federal government is cooperating with them. i hope that will continue. here's what i want to ask from the federal government. catch these people. catch these people. and then tell the american people the truth. now, i don't want you to tell us yet anything that's going to interfere with your investigation. and there are things that i have been told that i think are true that i'm not sharing with you today because it could interfere with their investigation. but after we get to the bottom of this, they need to tell the american people the truth and the people of new orleans the truth, and the people of america the truth. i think the mayor and the governor are very wise to postpone this ball game for 24 hours. there's just too much stuff we

don't know. and it's just not worth it. but i guess my final point is i will promise you this, i -- when it is appropriate and this investigation is complete, you will find out what happened and who was responsible. our i will raise fresh hell, and i will chase those in the federal government who are responsible for telling us what happened. like they stole christmas. >> thank you, senator kennedy. congressman carter. >> thank you, governor, thank you, mayor. thank you, senator kennedy. thank you to all of our law enforcement agents for doing a yoman's job, for stepping up at a time when we needed you most. for employing the resources of all of our partners.

this is all hands on deck. from the white house all the way down. i have been in communication with the white house since early this morning. secretary mayorkas, leaders in all of our federal, local, and state agencies. the president has made it very clear that he intends to bring every resource to bear, to not only tell the truth, but to provide the resources to bring these cowards to justice. i want to personally thank the men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line to protect our citizens and our visitors, to our mayor, and our governor for acting expeditiously in bringing us all together, to sheriffs from the surrounding areas who have been johnny on the spot recognizing that if it happens in new orleans, it can happen anywhere. we don't have the luxury of being myopic. in this community, we work together. we don't point fingers, we don't blame.

we go after the bad guys. let it be clear that the full faith and credit of the united states and every agency therein is on the ground, working. and for those who may have played a role in this horrific act of cowardice, we will find you. we will bring you to justice. new orleans sais a place that heralds its ability to protect its citizen, that heralds itself about to handle major events, super bowl, mardi gras, jazz fest, essence festival, you name it, no one does it better than law enforcement in new orleans and the surrounding area. kudos to those who officers who have been wounded. our hearts go out to those who lost loved ones. our hearts go out to those who are wounded and on the mend in

the hospital. citizens, now is the time to stay calm. to be vigilant. this is not a time to come out to sight see. listen to your federal, local, state officials. be vigilant. if you saw something, say something. if you know something, tell someone. there are tip lines, there's information available, please, all hands on deck. rest assured that the decision that was made to postpone the game was not done lightly. it was done with one single thing in mind. public safety. making sure that the citizens and visitors of this great city, not only for this event, but for every event you come to in louisiana, that you will be safe and we will use every resource possible as the governor has said, as the mayor has said, and every law enforcement agent here has said. our energy, our commitment, will be to make sure that you are

safe. now and for every event in the future. god bless you, and let's stay strong. >> attorney general? you, and le strong >> attorney general? i first want to extend my sincerest condolences to the families of the victims. parents got a phone call last night, this morning, early this morning, that no parent ever ever wants to receive, and as a parent of children who come to new orleans and spend time here, i know that that is just something that, you know, we hold our breath sometimes until they're home safe, and some people did not come home safe. we also have people who are fighting for their lives right now in the hospital. so we would ask everyone to pray for them. they need our support, and they need our prayers. this was a heinous act. a heinous, cowardly act, and we

will find them, and we will bring them to justice. my office will be providing both investigative and prosecutorial support to the city of new orleans, to the district attorney, jason williams at new orleans as i have done for months. we will continue to do that. we will provide the governor for whatever support he needs, and the office of the governor's office of homeland security, whatever support that they need. i'll be here to help. i'll be here to stand with the city of new orleans. we will bring them to justice. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you, governor. thank you, governor, and madame mayor, for those who do not know me. my name is anne kirkpatrick, the chief of police of new orleans. my official title is superintendent, but my role is as of chief of police. you have heard some of the

details today, and over the last 24 hours, we have had approximately 400 officers in the french quarter. and as we know, this is not just an act of terrorism. this is evil. and when we face evil, we have a choice. we can run in fear or we can, indeed, stand in strength. in a time of crisis, people are looking for leadership. you are looking at the leadership and i promise you, as the chief of police of this city, this city has been tried by fire before. but fire purifies. fire makes things stronger. we have a plan we know what to do. we are going to get these

people. there is a path forward. very pleased that we will be back to having a wonderful game tomorrow night. the new orleans police have proven their ability to make the city safer. just two years ago we were the murder capital of america. today, from that time two years ago, we have driven our murder rate more than 50% down, so we have a track record. but this is different. because it's terrorism. now, i want to thank all of our law enforcement partners. you're fabulous, and we appreciate the partnership. but last night, three of our officers engaged this terrorist who shot at them. three of the officers returned

fire. those officers did not run in fear. i liked what the mayor said this morning. new orleans police and all law enforcement is built. we are built for dealing with evil, with things that would cause others to be in fear, but instead, our officers and last night, nopd in particular, stood strong. they did not run. they did kill the terrorist. we have two officers, indeed, who received gunfire. they will be okay. we have personally gone to see them. but this is leadership for you. and i promise, as the chief of police of this fantastic city that i will be strong and firm

and fearless. thank you. >> thank you, and wrapping it up, i want to disclose a couple of things. i want to thank senator kennedy, and congressman carter. i want to thank, again, all of our law enforcement officers out there. i want the families of the victims to know that i will be issuing an executive order that tomorrow when notre dame plays georgia every flag over every state building in this state is going to be at half mass in remembrance of them, but remembering something else, that fear in this state is a liar. and these folks right here are going to make sure that justice is served and for the citizens out there thinking, man, do i want to go to the sugar bowl tomorrow, i'll tell you one thing, your governor is going to be there.

that is proof, believe you me, that the facility is safer today than it was yesterday, and as we come to additional events in this city, i know in speaking with senator kennedy, and congressman carter and the fbi acting director and incoming administration, that they are going to ensure that this city has the resources necessary to protect our citizens and our guests. and so with that, we'll take some questions. >> all right. if you could, we'll start over here with cbs, katy. we'll work our way across the room. if i miss you, give me a holler. >> katie with cbs news. this has been a really tough day for a lot of people, but at this point, we're hearing that the death toll, according to some fbi sources, is up to 15.

is that true? >> i can speak unless you have a final note. >> we do not have a final number. we know that we have confirmed ten, but we did have people who had been transported who were in critical condition, and so i do not know that, but i can confirm ten. >> and one quick follow up question, if i may, we know that there have been some local records in texas about a misdemeanor background on this suspect, any signs or warnings ahead of time about this person or their plans for what happened this morning? >> because that is the investigation part, i will give the fbi. >> at this time we cannot go into details about the subject's history. what i can tell you is the person was an army veteran. we believe he was honorably discharged, but we are working through process, figuring out

the information. the goal of the fbi is to provide with the most accurate and complete information. once that information is confirmed, we'll push that out. >> at this time do you know as far as the victims, how many are from here in louisiana versus out of state? >> at this time, i can't go into details about all the victims. we want to make sure first that the family is notified appropriately before we put any information out there. once the families are all notified, then we'll go ahead and release a statement to everyone. >> and i would ask the press, in relation to the victims, and those that are in the hospital, if we could just refrain from worrying about them so their loved ones can take care of them and the medical personnel trying to get them out of the hospital they'll do so. as information becomes available, we want to respect the privacy of those who are still either fighting for their lives or being cared for. thank you. >> a follow up, if i may. you guys mentioned accomplices,

you don't think the suspect acted alone? how many suspects are you looking at at this point? >> it's a range of suspects. and we don't want to rule anything out. we're asking if anyone has had any interaction with the deceased subject jabbar in the last 72 hours, provide us that information, 1-800-callfbi. or a digital tips line available on our social media web site as well as the big fbi web site. >> can i say something right quick, tell me who you're with. >> wsu. >> and nbc is over here on the right. >> that's an unusual position. >> i don't get it. >> you wouldn't. >> the fbi is not going to be able to answer those questions. they will eventually, i promise you. okay. once the fbi has a chance to investigate all of this, along with working with state police, working with homeland security,

working with the city of new orleans, they're going to tell you what happened. i can promise you that. or i'm going to raise fresh hell: right now, they are in the process of trying to catch the other bad guys, and i'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt for a while. >> i had a question about the victims. i know that there was obviously gunfire exchanged, so i guess how many victims were shot, and how many were injured? >> look, again, let he reiterate, special agent duncan, and senator kennedy. i get that you all want to know minute details. what we don't want to do is impede in investigation or spend any time talking about things that don't get us closer to hunting these folks down and securing the city. at a particular point in time, we will release as much

information as we can. but at this time, in relation to the investigation, i would ask you all to refrain from those. >> ladies and gentlemen, if we're going to just have more of the same as the governor just said, we're going to provide that information, but we're going to wrap the press conference now. hold on. let me finish. you weren't listening. if all of the questions are more of the same as what the governor just said, we won't be doing that to provide that information. if you have a quick different question. >> mine's different. >> let's do that quickly and move on. >> whoa, whoa, whoa. hold on. >> ma'am, hold on. >> over here. >> reporter: rachel from the "wall street journal," you said you were confident there were multiple suspects involved? what makes you confident? >> like, why would we tell you that? >> i mean, look, again, we want

to answer pertinent questions, but anything that would lead to impeding or endangering this investigation is not going to be said. okay. and we will -- as information unfolds, this is a very fluid, fluid process. and remember something too, we're doing two things. we're hunting some bad people down and we're securing the city. we're getting ready for a sugar bowl tomorrow. if y'all would, again, if you have questions regarding the sugar bowl, the safety of the city, or something to that effect, we're happy to answer. >> go ahead, alyssa. >> reporter: usually in parts of the french quarter specifically in parts of bourbon street, there are ballards, we're hearing that several of those may have been down, can you speak to that and maybe was there a backup option of putting a truck there or a car there? >> let me tell you, one, i'm

going to let the mayor answer. that's one of the first things i thought of this morning when the mayor called me, okay. and i will tell you, whatever the problem was is going to be solved. >> thank you, governor. >> thank you, governor, and thank you for the question. i do understand that it's been on your radar since this morning. as it relates to the ballards on bourbon street, over ten years ago, excuse me, over ten years ago, the city of new orleans implemented an infrastructure project placing llards on bourbon streets. shortly therefore, new orleans police department deemed them

inefficient because they did not operate the way that they were intended to do. because the city of new orleans is hosting super bowl this year, it gave the city of new orleans an opportunity to go further and deeper with infrastructure improvements as we have been talking about. so as a result of that, we were able to build in ballard replacement into our super bowl infrastructure package, and because of that, the city of new orleans has moved forward with that infrastructure that is nearing completion they were not up because they're near completion, with the expectation of being completed, of course, by uper bowl, before super bowl. that is the reason. now, the new orleans police department chief, you can speak to the deployment in response to

our needs and existing conditions. >> we have been aware of the ballard situation for a long time, and we did indeed harden the areas where they are. we are patrol cars out there as a hard target, as well as with barriers. i want to share with you all if you did not know that this particular terrorist drove around the sidewalk and got around the hard target, where he did have a car there, they had barriers, officers there, and they still got around. now, the wedges that you see installed as well, we knew that had malfunction problems. let's say we put the ledge up and it got stuck. there is no way that an ambulance could get in and out, people could get in and out. we knew that these were malfunctioned. so we did, indeed, have a plan,

but the terrorist defeated it. >> let me just say this. we recognize we've got a problem here, right? we're going to fix it. it is going to be a top priority. as we go into the super bowl and mardi gras, and the solution that we're going to come up with is going to be a permanent one. it's going to be placed into the standard operating procedure of having major events and securing that quarter. >> reporter: one follow up, if i may, obviously the bowl has been postponed. people are going to celebrate. are there plans to keep bourbon street close d? what is that going to look like? >> bourbon street is an active crime scene. when it's secured, and not an active crime scene, we're going to open it up. potentially. >> reporter: can we ask about

the military police presence that you want to call it, is this a private security? also would that be a first that a private security firm is mobilized to supplement local and state law enforcement? >> no, this is our national guard. these are our citizens that we're bringing in. it's a military police company that we recognize we need some more resources. we need more boots on the ground because, again, what we're doing now is two-fold. we've got an active investigation, and we've got enhanced security. before this event, we were just enhancing and working on security. so we brought some additional resources. >> jesse kirsch with nbc news, thank you for holding the press conference. i want to clarify, you're talking about bollards being prepared, a lift gate that's replaced and a lift gate not working. was there a vehicle in place of that last night? >> the chief answered to the plan in place, and the answer is

yes. >> it was indeed. >> reporter: anything currently in the midst of being prepared had a backup replacement? >> it had vehicles and officers were there where all of those bollards had been. we had that. we knew. we did have it. and like i said, in this particular case, terrorist just with went all the way around up on to the sidewalk. >> what about the lift gate? was there a vehicle backing in and out to block that lift gate area or was that down and open? that's what we've heard from witnesses? >> captain, the reason i'm calling the captain, he's the captain over that district, and that is a question i'm going to let him address for you. >> good evening, everybody. i'm captain roberts of the 8th district. yes, we did have a vehicle strategically placed right in front of the wedge preventing access on to the roadway. >> reporter: and in terms of the framework of security that was a already in place on bourbon street, i know this is an ongoing project of improvement, how that was all aligned, was

someone getting up on a sidewalk considered impossible or nearly impossible? or was this not something you expected to account for? >> of course it's not something we expected to account for. the bollards are wedges, they're strategically placed five locations throughout the french quarter. on the roadway. this particular terrorist drove on to the sidewalk behind the police car to gain access to the 100 block of bourbon street. >> reporter: if you're worried about someone driving down bourbon street, why weren't you worried about someone driving up the sidewalk or at least bracing for the same way? >> look, we can go on what ifs forever, this is evil, and that guy could have easily gone down the sidewalk of canal street. where there were a ton of pedestrians as well.

>> reporter: there are bollards -- >> hold on a second. we have to move on. >> i want you to know, however, we recognize, i said earlier, that where there are defects in this system, we are going to be transparent, and we're going to address them with the city, and make sure we fill those gaps as best we can. >> reporter: with "axios," i have a question about ongoing public safety. special agent mentioned two possible ieds, were those in the same location? should residents in the french quarter or elsewhere be concerned about potential other situations? >> the two ieds that were in different locations, and what we have done in conjunction with our local and state partners, we have gone through and done a sweep to identify anything that we thought was suspicious, and we have not. however, as i said before, if the public sees something, please reach out to us. that way we can go through and verify that we did not miss anything.

we conducted initial sweeps i think starting shortly after our initial press conference. >> i want to share that we have a plan, and we have been implementing that plan. one of those planes is that we have swept all of these areas. the word swept means we have put officers out there as a grid, walking down the streets, every street in the french quarter, looking for suspicious packages, bags, ice chests, you name it, and they have been walking it as a grid, we have been doing the same thing on all the accesses into the super dome. part of the safety plan is we have bomb dogs out there sweeping the super dome, and all the exterior area, and we're locking that down. that will be locked down through the game tomorrow. so that's a part of that safety plan, and we have already been

implementing that. >> thank you all for coming out. >> a question for the governor on the mps. how many mps will be deployed to new orleans? >> right now, it's 100. all right. thank you all so much. >> thank you. >> what gives you the confidence tomorrow night it's going to be safe? >> i'm going to be there. >> me too. >> i will too. >> yeah, we going to be there. l. >> yeah, we going to be there. >> you've been listening to fbi state and local officials give a briefing on that deadly new year's day attack in new orleans when police say 42-year-old shamsud-din bahar, ten are dead. a senior law enforcement official tells nbc news the number is climbing and could be as high as 15. the fbi referred to it as an ongoing and rapidly evolving investigation, but they do not

believe he acted alone. they said they believe the attacker was not solely responsible for this act. they are acting the public, anyone who had any interaction to come forward, anyone who knows who his associates may have been, and they are on the hunt for official individuals. officials are delaying tomorrow's sugar bowl for 24 hours. that's the first time that's happened since hurricane katrina. louisiana senator kennedy says that's a good day because quote, there's too much they don't know. back with us now, we've got ken dilanian, frank figliuzzi, jim cavanaugh, and christopher o'leary. i want to start with you, chris. we were talking just before the press conference about the potential of known associates, a wider network. listening to all of that, what do you think law enforcement is pursuing, how do they find known associates and what do you expect them to find? >> there's two things they're concentrating on likely now, the truck, any information that can

be pulled out of that truck, did he leave a cell phone behind that can be exploited. what other digital footprint does he have and who it points him to, and physical locations. the airbnb that he was staying in in new orleans, his previous residence in texas, and trying to illuminate his network, and who else was on the platform that radicalized him, who was susceptible to the radicalization, and who might have mobilized in support of this. the devices he used, he rented the truck and used that as his primary weapon. how did he make these devices? did he have the technical knowledge himself or did something help him? where did he get the components from? how sophisticated were the devices? that will tell you whether he acted alone or not and if he had expert advice. the firearm, did he legally purchase it, who trained with him? that will come out from

different interviews and interrogations, video surveillance to this digital footprint he has. all of that will paint a picture and eliminate a network. the most important part is to find out who the potential coconspirators are, find out if there's an ongoing threat and get them in pocket, get physical and technical surveillance on them as quickly as possible. >> and law enforcement officials there were circumspect about why they thought he had associates. they didn't want to mention anything that might compromise their investigation. ken, i want to ask you. they mentioned two improvised explosive devices were found around the french quarter, and quote, neutralized. they are looking to see if there are others. what does that tell you, and how does law enforcement proceed to make sure the area is safe, given the number of people in town for the game that's been delayed 24 hours? >> it's pretty alarming. it tells you exactly what they said. they have been anvassing the

area all day, searching for a suspicious package. you heard the fbi agent appeal to the public to make sure they hadn't missed anything. it wasn't just a vehicle attack. again, it was an attack with a weapon, a gun, and ieds. so multiple prongs here, which is something more complex than we have seen before in these isis-inspired vehicle attacks. also going back to this question of coconspirators, that was a built perplexing to me. it's unclear whether they don't know the identities of these people or they do know, and they just don't want to share them. they don't want to hit that they're on to these people. often times when the fbi is trying to find people, they share what information they have with the public to, you know, to sort of inspire tips and information coming in. in this case, they haven't done that. he said they were very circumspect. that's one way to put it. several times in the news conference, they said, we're going after it, we're going to get these people. we have bad people who need to run down.

they didn't tell us anything about who these people might be, where they might be, what their roles were in the alleged conspiracy. so that was remarkable to me, and raises questions. and frank, and what former fbi officials think is going on there. >> frank, what do you think is going on there? what's your take on that and the fact that you heard emotionally charged language, officials referring to it as an evil act, evil individual, but not a lot of details about where they're going with this investigation? >> i was carefully trying to assess every word that came out of the fbi assistant special agent there, and it is very interesting. one of the notes i took was, quote, a range of associates, is what she said in a response to a report reporter's question. a range of associates. so they know there's multiple associates. they know they're perhaps within a certain universe of people that this suspect has associated with.

one of the great concerns i have and some of it came from senator kennedy's interesting language implying that he knows things, that you're going to get the truth about who did this. the worst case scenario for federal agents is to actually have somebody in your files that you have been looking at, and that acts out violently, and you don't have a chance to stop them or him. one possibility, and i emphasize, this is a possibility. somebody was on the fbi's radar screen or some agency's radar screen and that may have helped jump to the fbi saying, look, we've got this, we'll take the lead on this. it could be the isis flag. to hear the fbi representative for new orleans say range of associates, we don't think he acted alone, not solely responsible, and to say that with great confidence indicates there is some knowledge there

and what is it that leads them to that conclusion. something in his devices already not likely, something in his computer at home, something that the fbi files indicate? i don't know. but this does say we now know why the sugar bowl is being delayed. they're not ready to say they have wrapped this up yet, and that's trouble. >> of course we don't have official confirmation that he was known to law enforcement, at least not yet. jim i want to turn to you now. you worked on the yun unabomber case, the atlanta olympic bombings. bourbon is a crime scene. there's a lot of people in town. it's unclear when that will lift. can you talk about to us a little bit about how you manage and go through a crime scene of that size. what is the protocol here? >> we're going to take all the bomb technicians and agents and state police, and they're going to sweep that for ieds and

suspicious packages, and a lot of that has been done. it's pretty routine, and they'll bring the bomb sniffing dogs out, and you know, if there's anything suspicious, they will secure it. they're going to be able to secure bourbon street and the blocks around it. they have probably done most of that. i don't think that's going to be a big problem. i think frank saying the reason that they're not giving more is i just think their information on the contacts of the killer are just rudimentary and preliminary. i don't think they have it deep. in other words, they're not telling us they have coconspirators, aided and abetted, identified, they're not giving us a photograph, we're looking for this person. they have associates contacts like minded, and they're wondering, investigating whether this could be people who aided him, conspired with him, and they don't have enough information yet. i think one of the key things

here is the attack's at 3:15 a.m. we have bombs placed in the french quarter, according to the fbi, well, you know, did he recoe reka plant some device, and stick his isis flag in the truck, and come in and drive through on the sidewalk. which i thought was a wholly inadequate description of the security there. the governor seemed to be the one who would accept responsibility that, you know, whatever's done wrong we'll correct. but, you know, we have the greatest security anywhere has got to ring hollow with the families of all of these deceased people and injured people. when a terrorist can come through and drive on a sidewalk. how can that ever be an acceptable outcome? >> right. >> how can that ever be acceptable? it's not acceptable. and it doesn't sound very well.

it sound like everybody is saying we have the greatest security, and it's pretty obvious you don't. so, you know, that sort of rang hollow for me. i just kept thinking about the families listening to that. i mean, it just doesn't sound good at all. i think they're smart to postpone it, and the reason terrorism is here and it's a magnet. big events are a magnet. bourbon street, new year's eve is a magnet. can you imagine the attraction of striking new orleans again at the sugar bowl. what a magnet that is for terrorists, and listen, they know that. they're watching everywhere. they have to bolster security. and all the discussion on bollards is meaningless. should have put the dump trucks there loaded with sand. there's no excuse for not having the street blocked on all ends for new year's eve. >> and that was something officials were getting pressed hard on especially at the end. chris, i want to ask you about that. basically they said in the press

conference, you know, we had a plan, but the terrorist defeated it. is that acceptable? they admitted that these things that come out from the sidewalk were malfunctioning, they had another plan where there were cars in front of it, but it seems like the sidewalk was left pretty open. how do you not think a terrorist is going to potentially drive on a sidewalk? >> it's surprising and disappointing. surprising because the new orleans plld police olice depar exceptional agency with a ton of seniors, dealing with high profile. >> they mentioned how many police were on the street. the presence was there, just an execution. >> there was a weak link in setting up security, and unfortunately somebody intent on doing a terrorist act exploited it. that's what you need to prepare for. i'm sure new orleans police department is trying to fix the fatal flaws right now. other police departments throughout the country and internationally, who are exceptional at protecting

special events will be sharing best practices with them, but really, inexcusable, and i'm glad the governor stepped up and took responsibility. it cannot happen. cannot give people comfort going to the sugar bowl tomorrow. >> frank, i want to ask you about that, too. you heard the governor and others say they are calling in military police and additional law enforcement. they have delayed the game by 24 hours. kwhaels what else do you expect to see outside that sugar bowl when it does go off. what other security measures need to be in place or should be in place? >> first, i think it's a decent call to bring in the national guard. the state guard there and the military police unit for certain not direct law enforcement duties, the question i would ask the officials is what is your metric by which you're going to decide, yeah, we're good to go tomorrow for the sugar bowl, what's going to need to change for you? >> again, i contrast that with the fbi official saying, yeah, there's a range of associates.

we don't believer he's solely responsible. wow, okay. so under what circumstances is it going to be safe to do a major event tomorrow, and is it going to be postponed again? are you going to wrap up some kind of cell or loose group of associates. did someone else plant the bombs and walk away, what is surveillance video going to show us? what do i expect when it finally goes off. push the perimeter out. everybody is going to have to get patted down. there's no cursory wand by an x-ray device. yeah, you're going to have a lot more resources necessary, and the private security firm they usually use at a stadium to pat people down, check packages, they may just ban packages entirely. you'll need to show up very early for the extended process to take place. don't be surprised if the

perimeter is not where you think it usually is, but much farther out to allow for crowd control, and god forbid, someone carrying out violence needs to be farther and farther away from the stadium itself. a lot to consider here, but i think a lot of it has to actually be prompted by whether or not the fbi says we've got everybody involved. >> and as they kept saying, it's an ongoing and fluid investigation. chris, i want to ask you, a woman who identified herself as the deceased driver's sister-in-law told nbc news the driver's family members in texas were shocked. they don't know what happened, describing him as a good man who takes care of his children. how do you start piecing together the picture of individuals like this if they are radicalized. it's so easy to think of these act sz acts as acts of a madman, tell us about that. >> the psychology of terrorism, people want to look at, well,

this person has to have some kind of mental defect, because it is abhorrent to an average person to have your fellow citizen or fellow human being conduct such a barbaric act. most terrorist acts are actually rational acts, based on a grievance. that grievance builds and leads to a mobilization towards violence, because they think that is their only course of action. it's not rational to you and i or most people, but it's rational for them. they got there because they took certain steps along the radicalization pathway. if you identified those earlier, you can sometimes interdict those. back to what was alluded to before. did the fbi know about this individual earlier? was he part of what's called a guardian investigation which is kind of the lowest level in investigation where information is provided to the fbi, and there's a surface level.

>> kind of like a guy we should keep an eye on. >> that happened with the boston bombing, actually, and unfortunately, certain steps were taken. they weren't deep enough because the russians weren't really providing us information back. that could be the case here, why the fbi might know about him. he might be in our radar. there might be other associates that are already known. it's tough to say because the fbi is not going to come out and tell us that. the reason they are not going to come out and tell us about that is you do not want these people to go to ground, and you don't want to pick them off too early, unless you know about the entire network. pointing to examples like zacharias, if he was not taken off the street earlier, and we left him in play, perhaps the rest of the 9/11 network could have been eliminated. the boston bombing, the fbi after a period of time put information out only because it was having trouble locating them. so it looked for the public's help in this.

you generally don't identify people unless you are having trouble locating them yourself. >> got it. jim, i want to turn to you now, the fbi says the driver exited the vehicle and fired on local law enforcement who shot back. but they're also looking into whether he was firing while driving and running people down. that was something that was asked at the press conference, how many of those victims were injured by the car, and whether or not any of them were injured by gunfire, and law enforcement officials declined to comment. what's your take on all of that? >> it's difficult to do to shoot a along gun and drive. he could, in that narrow street. he's only wanting to go straight. he could prop his knees on to the steering wheel, and press his knees up against the steering wheel and shoot out the window at the rifle. it's possible to do. and as crowded as the street is, he could wreak havoc with a semiautomatic or fully automatic

long gun. that would be devastating. back to frank's point, what is the tipping point of the decision on whether or not you're going to have the sugar bowl, you know, in a 24-hour delay. i think i would put it this way, if there's any doubt, there's no doubt, and, you know, weigh the consequences of your decision, if you're wrong, you could have death and destruction. what's the end game you want? do you want to have the game missed? or do you want to have people killed? think about how you deal with the after math of those things. and i understand the thought process. we can't let terrorists rule our lives. that's true. i agree. but we can't let terrorists make us fools and victims that walked into their traps either. we have to be smart. and we have to be strategic. and i think it's possible that we need to think about these decisions, the leaders need to because the agents need some

time to work. they found some obvious confederates, and they need time to sort that out. it's hard to get a 24-hour clock on you to do that. so if that decision came to me as a commander, if there's doubt, i would say don't have the game, and the game could be played another sunny day. >> well, it seems like officials agree with you, at least in part by saying in that press conference, the decision to delay the game was not made lightly. it was done with one thing in mind, public safety. frank, do you think that was the right call or do you think they should cancel it completely? >> i think it's too early to tell. i think they have done the right thing for now. like jim, no investigator likes a looming deadline over their head. it's got to be driven by threat and risk, the decision making. i still perceive a threat at risk when the fbi is saying he's

not solely responsible. we're looking at a range of associates, and we're asking for the public to call in and say who his friends and associates are. they're not close yet to figuring this out. and that's the way it goes. that's the primary priority. public safety. >> all right. we're going to have to leave it there for now. thank you very much to all of our guests. we'll have much more of our special coverage after a short break. of our special coverage after a short break. ohhh! the highs! no, no, no. the no, no, noooos - oooooooo! the oh, oh, ohhhhs! now whatcha wanna do with this? but the feeling that, no matter what, you're taken care of. ohhh, i just earned a hotel suite! hee! you only get that here. at the sportsbook born in vegas, where they know how to treat you right. who you talking to jamie foxx? bonus bets. exclusive offers. real world rewards. betmgm. download and bet today. if have heart disease and struggle with ldl-c... even with statins and diet... listen to your heart. talk to your doctor about repatha.

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updating you on our bruise. tonight, sugar bowl in new orleans has been postponed until tomorrow following a deadly terror attack. the fbi reveals last hour, they do not believe the suspect acted alone, and that he had an isis flag on his vehicle. joining us by phone in new orleans is greg bluestein, a political reporter for the "atlanta journal-constitution" and an msnbc contributor. greg, you have been out there, talking to uga students who have been critically injured. can you tell us what they're saying to you? what do you know? >> there's this pall of dread over new orleans. students and fans like me come to new orleans to celebrate new year's, and to of course watch the uga football team take on notre dame in what was supposed to be tonight's big college football show down for the sugar bowl, and instead now, you know, there's just a lot of concern for those who are injured, for

those who were killed in this deadly attack, and a lot of people are now scrambling to figure out gog to do now for themselves because now they have to, you know, rearrange their own plans. they say safety is paramount, of course it lends a different scene to this revelry that they were expecting for tonight. >> yeah, it seems like city officials said safety is paramount, and it looks like they're trying hard not to cancel the game, saying nair going to delay it 24 hours. how are people feeling about going to the game? has anyone expressed concern about whether or not it's safe? >> i have a lot of friends who are here, just like me. they have young kids. my two young children are here as well. a lot of people are having the internal debate, do we still go to the game? do we not go to the game? >> do we try and make it home. atlanta is an eight-hour drive. a lot of fans coming from atlanta. there's a lot of different debates going on. each family is having their own decisions to make. i mean, we just heard that press conference where louisiana and

new orleans officials say that they're going to do everything they can to ensure the safety of this game tomorrow night. so there are many fans who are competent in that assessment. >> and i mean, you're not there on assignment. you're there because you're a uga grad, and there with your family. you posted a vigil photo from the corner of bourbon street and canal. what are you seeing there around the area where this attack happened? >> there is yellow police tape everywhere throughout the french quarter. this is my children's first time in new orleans, so i was excited about showing them the french quarter, showing them bourbon street. that's not going to happen now, at least the bourbon street part of it is not going to happen now. there's a lot of curiosity, fans wearing the red and black of the georgia bulldogs and green and yellow of notre dame. we're wandering around the streets deciding what they're going to do. so much of the tourist part of new orleans is now shutdown. >> greg bluestein, thank you so much. i hope you and your family get

some time together. >> thank you. we want to bring back in nbc's jesse kirsch who's in new orleans, and just attended that fbi press conference on the attack. jesse, what stood out to you from those remarks? >> reporter: yeah, so we knew going into this press conference that there was an ongoing improvement project on bourbon street to replace bollards, which are just going to have our photographer pan off real quick and give you an idea of what we're talking about, about the height of a fire hydrant. doesn't look like a fire hydrant but a metal pole sticking up. you have probably seen them in the downtown of a major city before. those are meant to help protect people from being vulnerable to a potential vehicle ramming. so they have been in the process of repairing those. and trying to get clarity on what they have been doing, as they have been replacing them, what they had in place. they did say they had items in place where they were doing those repairs r..

they had a back up in place at the time, including something that was blocking a lift gate, which they said was malfunctioning. they did have something blocking it. it was physically down so that, for example, an ambulance could get in and out, and we had heard accounts, they saw a gate down. that is the explanation from officials. it was not working perfectly, and so they had a in place. what stuck out in the midst of getting all of this information was i asked for some clarity on the sidewalks because they said that the suspect allegedly went around the security plan and went up on the sidewalk, and so what i had asked was were there bollards, were there these barriers in place on the sidewalks? was that something they had accounted for in the general plan for the area or was it not something they thought would happen, and they said, the police said at this press conference, they did not have bollards blocking the sidewalks. that stuck out to me.

again, you could be in a major city on any old sidewalk, not just any old sidewalk but not necessarily at the heart of a tourist destination, such as bourbon street, you may see the bollards. the fact that they were worried about the potential for a vulnerability in the street on bourbon street, but didn't at the same time, think they needed to put the tanions up. the fbi says that at least two ieds have been found and rendered safe. they have found two explosive devices in the city of new orleans in the midst of the investigation in the early hours. they do not believer the suspect acted alone. all of that comes with the sugar bowl supposed to have been kicking off here behind me at the super dome. that has been postponed 24 hours. as officials were wrapping up the press conference, while there were questions to be

asked, i shouted over to officials, what gives them the confidence they could have the game safely tomorrow night and the governor said because he'll be there. they did not clarify further on what additional security precautions are in place, and they have acknowledged there may be deficiencies that need to be addressed in the security posture of the city moving forward. they didn't get a lot of clarity on what they think they'll get done to make them feel good about hosting the event tomorrow night. to be determined on those events and big picture, for a football game tomorrow night, there's supposed to be the super bowl in the city in less than two months. that's something that i think is going to have a more intense security focus moving forward because of what has unfolded here. send it back to you. >> the super bowl, mardi gras, the sugar bowl, it got very contentious at the end of the press conference. i was surprised to hear them say, we had a plan, the terrorists defeated that plan. they were ambiguous about that. the other thing they didn't

offer specifics on, they don't believe the individual acted alone, but when pressed, they said they didn't want to give details that might compromise the investigation. what does that tell you, and whether do you think investigators are looking at, and did it stand out that they made a public appeal for people who might know associates of the individual to please come forward? >> reporter: we have colleagues that have covered far more investigations in the space than me. i'll defer to them to elaborate further, but having covered a number of crimes broadly, i know that generally officials hold their cards close to their vest in case they are close to tracking someone down that they believe to be involved, and you know, they don't want to give anything away that might allow someone to go under ground or in hiding. this is broadly me speaking, not me speaking about this specific case. they clearly feel that they have something they need to hold close to their chest right now

on that front. i also think at the same time, it's not very often we hear, that officials believe that multiple people were involved in something of this scale. we have covered far too many of these mass shootings. it's typically, i think, almost every time, if not every time i have covered one of those, we hear officials say they believe the individual acted alone. sometimes someone is implicated in some accessory fashion, but, you know, the fact that they are saying that they do not think this person acted alone sticks out to me from other incidents we have covered, and to your point, they're not sharing very much right now, so i don't know what that tells us about where they are in terms of getting to the other people. clearly they need the public's help to bring this to a resolution quickly. >> nbc's jesse kirsch outside the super dome there. we want to turn to jp morel,

council member at large and vice president of the new orleans city council. i want to ask you first, what are you hearing from constituents today? are they feeling uneasy or unsafe in their city after this attack? >> what we hear the most a lot of anger and sadness. obviously it was a horrendous event, on something seen as the central, main street of new orleans, and a lot of unanswered questions that over the course of this morning, a lot of them have been answered, as far as just how this truck was able to get around the secured perimeter, and how it was able to get down the road. just because the questions have been answered, doesn't mean they have been answered satisfactorily, and obviously as our governor said, we are going to get to the bottom of what needs to be improved to make improvements, safety more easur. it is evident that this was a targeted terrorist attack. it was very well planned, and i expect that as time goes on in

the next 24 or 72 hours, we're going to get even more information that supports that hypothesis. >> you know, as jesse just referenced, in the press conference, you heard the governor ask is the sugar bowl going to be safe, so you would people be worried, i'm going to be there. is that enough to make you confident, and how are you feeling about other events, mardi gras, super bowl, any events that bring so many people in and are de facto targets for events like this. >> that's the issue. the issue is when you look across the nation at soft target potential sites, it's new york, times square, mardi gras, and new orleans, it's all of these different open festivals and events we have across the entire nation. i do think right now with the sheer amount of resources, we had a lot of resources beforehand. that has quadrupled in a short period of time. what i have been telling my constituents, and what i tell visitors, you're going to have

to exercise a whole different level of patience. when this level of security is ramped up, just in the short-term, during the investigation, through the sugar bowl, through the super bowl even, it is going to be a very different new orleans that you'll be experiencing because we're going to have to account for that. there's conversations happening right now about what we're going to have to do to make mardi gras different next year. we're going to have to look at parade routes, securing those routes and the like. so, i mean, yes, i think that there should be concerns generally speaking but, with the amount of resources that we have at our disposal, especially right now from the state and the federal level, in addition to local parishes, which i'll call comedies in this area, we are going to be one of the safest places on earth. i think what the governor was trying to say in a short, flippant way, yes, it's going to be safe, i'm going to be there. if i didn't think it was safe, i wouldn't go there, and i think that the extra time that's being

given is partially to try and close any loose ends, but also because, remember, bourbon street, because that street everyone frequents, that iconic lane in new orleans, it's an active crime scene. the fact is that the fbi, the state and federal local officials are casing bourbon street, and collecting every bit of evidence in this case. bourbon street would not be able available tonight. i think delaying this is not just for security but also to hopefully have some of the businesses maybe hopefully if that crime scene is cleared to recoup the revenue they're hemorrhaging right now. if that's not the case, it may go beyond then, so be it. i think that extra time is to cover a variety of different topics and issues. >> i mean, obviously this is an ongoing and fluid investigation, and law enforcement just told us some things, but played other close to the vest, what

questions do you still want answered most right now about what happened last night? >> i mean, there's specific things that stood out to me. the fact that you had this vehicle on truro, he was able to put together his plan in an airbnb. these are all in themselves kind of like soft targets for tourism in people looking to do ill because had this person rented a car from hertz and went to a hotel, this never would have gotten this far because there's so many points of interaction where this person might have been uncovered. so i want to see how those different abilities to rent a vehicle, get a property in our city, in this quasi kind of legal way, are these other loopholes that have to be closed across the nation because if airbnbs are the places you can

go to to set skpup up and do th things, we have to look at airbnb too. >> thank you for joining us. >> thank you. we'll talk to a counter terrorism expert about the revelations that the person in the truck had an isis flag. stay close. more coverage after the break. se more coverage after the break. you know, at verizon, we'll pay off your phone. and you'll get iphone 16 pro with apple intelligence, on us. now with genmoji. that's a value of up to eighteen hundred dollars. only on verizon.

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authorities have confirmed the suspect in the new orleans truck ramming attack is a u.s.

citizen from texas who had an isis flag attached to the vehicle that he drove into a crowd of revelers on bourbon street. those revelations come as we hear more eyewitness accounts about the attack. >> he's coming up all on to the sidewalk and all that, but by that time, we had already made it inside the divot, what i thought. once we get inside the divot, and the car passes, i turned around to, like, look who's all in here because it was supposed to be three of us. i turned around to see who was all in here, and i don't see my friend. and i just start screaming and yell, and i'm like, na, where are you, and i turned and looked in the street, and they are right leg is flipped like horror movie style over her back, and it's just blood. >> just one of so many witnesses of that horrendous scene last night. joining us now, marc

polymeropoulos, a former cia counter terrorism official. mark, i want to ask you. you know, we heard in the press conference, authorities are looking for associated of this individual. they do not believe he was solely responsible for the attack. what questions do you have about that? why would they think that? are there any indications either what was in the vehicle, do you think it's coming from communications or do you think it could be all of the above? >> i think it certainly can be all of the above. and one of the things we have been worried about for so long in the counter terrorism world is lone wolf attacks. someone gets radicalized online. we've seen that before. it's hard to disrupt. in this case, it looks like there are other members of a cell, for example. so maybe they did find something in his pocket litter. maybe there's things in the vehicle or perhaps the intelligence community has picked up some kind of transmissions, some chatter amongst isis members. ultimately, though, this use of a vehicle as a weapon, it's nothing new. it started off with palestinian terrorist groups, hamas in the

west bank, and there was a group, al qaeda and the arabian peninsula, 2010 issue put out a magazine article called inspire. that encouraged these attacks, and isis, the group we're talking about now in 2015, and their propaganda videos, they actually encouraged using trucks, again, as a weapon, and also in conjunction with firearms. so this is part of the mo. but right now, as you could tell from the press conference, it does look like the fbi thinks that there's other members out there. one of the things that was a bit alarming is they don't seem to know who exactly they are. >> based on how this has played out, and it's early days and we have limited information, does this seem like it was an isis-ordered attack, does it seem it's an inspired lone wolf. what do you think is most likely in this case? >> before the fbi kind of came out with their statement there might be others, it certainly seemed to me like it was a lone

wolf, people rad icalized onlin. there's not many members involved. it's unfortunately easy to build these rudimentary ieds. if he did use a long gun, that's readily accessible in the united states, and perhaps with limited casing. now, what you have to think about is perhaps there's a little bit more of a cell structure, and one of the things, too, was this individual or perhaps more, was there any command and control, for example, from back in syria where isis is primarily located, and again, the intelligence community will be all over this. one of the things that we have an advantage of is across the country, there's something called the joint terrorism task force, jttf, an fbi lead, an fbi field office. you have members of the intelligence community. they can really tap into this as well. we will even be going via the good offices of the atf. and bilateral intelligence relationships, asking them if they have heard any type of

chatter. there's been a lot of talk on msnbc, outstanding in terms of the kind of fusion of local and federal government but also throw into that now the assistance of foreign intelligence partners, and i think that, you know, we will find out in short order what happened, but it does seem there's certainly some unknowns now. the big question is there anyone else out there, in terms o.f th safety and security of the people of new orleans. >> talk about the big inner agencies getting involved. we heard president biden saying the cia is involved in the investigation. what threats are they going to pull out, and does there involvement indicate there was a foreign aspect or is that what they're investigating? >> i was surprised and caught my attention when president biden mentioned my old organization, the cia, and that to me means they were briefed in some fashion, first of all, that it was some connections to isis, but perhaps there's an overseas nexus. again, they're going to be doing things such as monitoring

communications and isis officials. these would be signals intercepts, the national security agency, our human sources, tasking human sources and reviewing also any information. even old information, for example, if they have talked about some kind of pending attack, and finally going to our foreign partners as well. but the notion that there's a, you know, the foreign nexus, and biden mentioning the cia certainly caught my attention, and i think that probably is what we'll learn in the days ahead. somehow there's a strong connection, perhaps more than a lone wolf, even back to isis members, for example, in syria or iraq or other places around the world. >> marc polymeropoulos, a former chief cia of operations in europe and eurasia, and of course, an nbc news national security and intel analyst. thauchl thank you so much for joining us. >> we're going to take a quick break, our special coverage of the new orleans attack is going to continue in just a moment. stick with us. tinue in just a mt stick with us. id, there's a treatment that can help:

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we're back following breaking news on that deadly new orleans attack, and now we're getting a first look at the suspect. four sources familiar with the matter say this is shamsud-din jabbar, the man who investigators say intentionally ran his pickup truck into a crowd on bourbon street. the fbi say they do not believe he was solely responsible for the attack. >> we're aggressively running down all of the leads to

identify the possible subject's associates. we are working to ensure there is no further threat. we do not believe that gentleman par -- jabbar was solely responsible. >> joining us now is joyce vance, former u.s. attorney, professor at the university of alabama school of law, and msnbc legal analyst. cedric alexander, former public safety director for dekalb lab georgia and msnbc senior law enforcement analyst. tom chit ham, former associate deputy director of the u.s. bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives, and chris o'leary is here with us in studio. joyce, i want to start with you. there are specific legal requirements when it comes to classifying this as an act of terrorism. can you explain what those are? >> well, typically terrorism is viewed as a criminal act committed by someone with a political agenda, someone who's trying to impose fear, strike

terror into the hearts of americans, and do it in order to advance a political agenda. those definitions and the laws that back them up are stronger, obviously, in the area of international terror. there's been a lot of debate about whether we need parallel laws and provisions for domestic terror, but the concept is similar for both. >> and, tom, the fbi said a potential ied was located in the suspect's vehicle, and other potential devices were found throughout the french quarter. what goes into determining the nature of those device, and could this be something connecting this individual to potential other suspects? >> i think there's three investigations that will be conducted here. we know basically the what. we've recently learned the who, but the how and why are questions we'll have. authorities will want to look into the source to have the firearm, even though the suspect was u.s.-born and had prior

military service. they'll look if drug use may have prohibited him from obtaining t. with respect to the explosive devices, we understand they have been rendered safe. we don't know the nature of them, whether they are sophisticated, perhaps using electronic circuitry or rudimentary, pipe bombs. how authorities rendered them safe is important. they don't want to blow and go. instead they will try and dismantle if it's safe to do so. they will look for clues, forensic clues, biological clues and that sort of thing. the second investigation is to determine whether or not others assisted. we heard that's possible. the question is it directly, in se, planning this attack or maybe indirectly, providing materials that went into the device or providing funding. the third investigation, as difficult as it will be is to look into whether or not this could have been prevented, either through better security planning or prior contacts with the authorities and the suspect

or others. >> chris, i want to ask you more about those devices because, you know, they rendered them inert. where do they go from there? do they stay locally, get shipped off to an investigative office somewhere and what can you tell about the components and build of the devices? >> particularly in a case like this, where the fbi has the lead, leading the counter terrorism investigation, that device will go back to quantico where the explosives unit and the tdac, an interagency unit, terrorism explosive device analytical -- >> that's a lot of acronyms, just tell us what they do. >> but anyway, they will analyze the components. what the energetic material was to make that explosive, was it something they created themselves? was it something they procured commercially? how was it housed? how was the device initiated and based on a level of

sophistication or the type of advice, it could tell us where the individuals were trained, if any training, something they developed themselves, and a vignette, the boston bombing, those of us quickly knew this was not an act of domestic terrorism because the components and device used was consistent with what we saw in afghanistan, a pressure cooker, christmas tree lights and match heads on the explosive material. that will lead investigators down another path. the other thing that was alluded to was, you know, how do we believe he has associates? is it through his social media activity, platforms he was on or is it technical collection from a foreign partner or u.s. intelligence agency connecting him to a foreign, you know, terrorist group. we don't know. there's a lot of assumptions that maybe it's somebody on the ground with him. but he could be getting directed from isis. and when i say isis, it could be

isis or any of the affiliates, so isis province right now is the most active, conducting external operations. is it isis kp, is it core isis or any of the other affiliates globally disbursed. >> and isis inspired or isis directed is something law enforcement is going to need to figure out. cedric, nbc news spoke to an eyewitness visiting new orleans who claimed there was a lack of barricades when the attack unfolded. let's take a listen. >> no, the metal barricades were not up, just the standard plastic ones that you see there. there was police at the entrance, a lot of police there, but the metal barricades were not up. of course i'm surprised but i don't know why they're still letting cars go through bourbo street. last night, when i was there, midnight, there's still cars driving by, even though there's people walking all over the street. you've got to dodge cars. i don't think they should let my

vehicles. they should block it off, especially at nighttime. >> this is something law enforcement was pressed hard on including by jesse kirsch in that press conference a little earlier. they had these metal barricades that popped up but the one was broken, so they said they took other measures to block off the street, obviously they were insufficient. how do you think this is going to reshape security for bourbon street moving forward. are you going to expect a more permanent installment that will prevent any car from being able to do this again in the future? >> i can only imagine for the may mayor and the chief of police there anne kirkpatrick, that they're going to give grave attention to why were these barricades not up on a new year's eve night, and knowing also that they would be entertaining one of the biggest bowl games in the country where you had visitors and local members of the community who would be coming into the city for that game, and that's a question that certainly needs to be answered and i don't want to speculate beyond that.

but i think going forward, they're going to have to give some real consideration now, not just in new orleans, but also across the country. when you have these types of events, and unfortunately it's just the world we live in, when we have these type of large scale events where we have people walking up and down the streets, we have to make sure that we do not have the kind of road access where vehicles can get through them. we can't be lax in this. we have to be very intentional about the security that we provide in this day and time that we're in, and this is so unfortunate incident, but i think that's the question you're posing, that certainly needs to be answered, and i think the community and the country wants to know why were those barricades not up. but this is not a time at which i want to scrutinize them because they've got a lot going on, and they did a fantastic job in terms of responding to the

threat, annihilating the threat so others were not injured as well. but, you know, one thing that we learned from these things is what it is that we did well, and what is it that we can do better, and i think there will be opportunity to do that, and hopefully without any criticism. >> joyce, i want to ask you, you know, the new orleans police department is a robust, experienced police department, but they're going to need help. what kind of resources is the justice department going to bring into this investigation? >> right. so this is standard operating procedure, in an incident like this. the fbi is already the lead agency on the scene. you can expect to see federal, state, and local law enforcement partners working together very seamlessly. you'll have the d.a. in new orleans working with the u.s. attorney. i'm certain that they're already busy at work cutting grand jury subpoenas to begin some of the investigative collection that they will need to do. of course we know that the man who drove the truck is deceased.

there won't be a prosecution there, but we've heard some suggestion that there are others who were involved, and that will be part of the focus. job number one is making sure that the city is safe, making sure that the country is safe. job number two is holding the bad guys accountable. and, you know, it's very interesting that we heard so much commentary from so many people in this press conference. all very certain that there were more people who were involved, and so that suggests that at some point, people had contact and others became familiar with the idea that there were additional people involved. that could happen, for instance, at the point where the additional ieds were placed in the french quarter. it could be others who drove into the city with this individual. i think the temptation this early is always to speculate. it's important to remember that there really is a fog of war phenomenon this early on, and

the important thing that we can do as civilians is what we've been asked to do. if anyone has any information, they should immediately share it through an fbi tip line. now we can watch the law enforcement agencies bring together their expertise, obviously atf and fbi, when it comes to explosive devices and these sort of terror attacks. we may see, for instance, postal inspectors come in if any of the components for the ieds were obtained through the mail. there are other agencies, dhs agencies, even that could provide important information. it will be all hands on deck. >> absolutely. tom, i also want to ask you, federal investigators and local law enforcement in new orleans are trying to determine if the suspect used a long gun style weapon firing into the crowd while he was running his car over the crowd as well. if investigators have that gun, what can it tell them? what kind of information can they gather? >> they'll look at the markings

on the firearms itself, the serial number, to try and determine where it came from. they will give it a technical examination to determine exactly what its legality is under the law, whether it was converted to fire fully automatic or something like that. they'll also look at the p ballistics, the recovered cartridge casings that are discovered across this crime scene may link to other crimes. we don't know that yet. there will be a full exploitation of that firearm. they'll also look for traditional sources of forensic everyday, potentially dna off of the magazine or ammunition inside of it to determine whether or not someone else may have been involved in providing that firearm. again, we don't know the source of it. we don't know whether the suspect was prohibited from possessing the firearm. maybe he obtained it through legal commercial means or maybe someone else provided it to him. all of that is the sort of thing that as joyce suggested, the

expertise of various agencies will be brought to bear to answer. >> and, chris, you know, we heard that plea for civilians t come forward if they know anything about this individual or associates. what kind of information may people have that they may not know they have? >> really, anything, there's 11,000 fbi agents across the country, and globally disbursed and all the other federal resources and law enforcement resources, there are a fi nit amount of collectors. what you need is the general public, 350 million civilians out there going about their business and seeing things happen that are unusual. did anybody else see somebody with him. did somebody get out of his truck earlier in the evening. did he drop somebody off to plant devices. did he plant them himself and return to his truck. was somebody staying with him at his bed down location, any of those things. >> all right. thank you so much, i want to thank joyce vance, cedric alexander, and all of our guests. keep it right here.

our coverage of the new orleans terror attack continues at the top of the hour with a live report from the city coming up next. g up next

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>> good afternoon, here in washington, d.c., it is 3:00 p.m. in new orleans, louisiana, closing in on 12 hours since a man drove a pickup truck at high speeds into a crowd celebrating the new year just