good evening picking up our coverage of what is now two separate potential terror attacks this new year's day. first ofpbg in tphorlgs where a man drove a truck into a crowd in bourbon street, first of course in new orleans where a man drove a truck into a crowd on bourbon street. he is texas native and veteran abar. the fbi rarely releases photos of a suspect but they're doing so after this attack. seeking the public's assistance in coming forward where any information they may have about the suspect. just this evening law enforcement arrived outside the city's home in houston texas. they're waiting to hear about

what they may have learned there. the fbi says it is investigating whether the suspect had tied to the terrorist group isis given that he was flying the isis flag in the back of the truck. they're also investigating whether he acted alone. law enforcement officials told msnbc news they're investigating whether they're planting devices around the french quarters. bourbon street tonight is still an active crime scene as the city prepares to host the super bowl college football game. that had originally been scheduled for today. they have issued an emergency declaration in the city. then there's what happened in las vegas today. sometime before 9:00 a.m. local time, a tesla cyber truck exploded outside of the trump

hotel in las vegas. officials say that soon after the truck drove up to the doors of the hotel, smoke started coming out of the vehicle and then it exploded. the person inside the truck was killed. seven other people were injured. officials tell nbc news that this explosion is not guilty believed to be an accident and that it was intentional and that it is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack. though officials have no reason to believe it was in any way connected to what happened in new orleans this morning. nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian joins us now. >> reporter: we all heard officials say they believe this suspect did not act alone. that appears to be based on a misunderstanding of some surveillance video where they thought they saw other people. not the suspect planting those

two bombs. those improvised explosive devices they found on the streets of new orleans. they located those people and have ruled them out as suspects. they were just by standards. that was the basis of that fbi agent and others to say there were others out there that this suspect didn't act alone. that they were looking for bad people as one of the officials put it. there is no active man hunt for other suspects. it does appear they're headed into the direction of deciding this person acted alone. that this was a lone wolf access inspired attack. often in these cases, people who have been radicalized are communicating with others online. so we may have had confederates in that sense. but the idea that there are people running around new orleans posing a threat to the

public that they had to delay the sugar bowl by a day doesn't seem to be the case.. it's unclear whether there are other people there. whether they're just doing a search. but they're going to run down every potential place this person had any ties and of course his entire digital footprint. they want to learn anything they can about him and what he was doing and communicating with. what he was saying online and social media and other places. getting a warrant and searching his residence would be one of the first first things they would do. >> the question we're asking of course because the person did have an isis flag in the back of the truck. we heard earlier from the director that it could be financial. it could simply be in the form of encouragement. what are law enforcement officials telling you about the way in which they are probing those specific ties. >> they're doing what they do

in any case. looking at this digital footprint. we all have that. they're going to look and see who is this person communicating online. remember this is a person born in the united states in texas. is an army veteran. spent years in the u.s. military. appeared to have a normal life at one point. appeared to be a realtor. at some point he became radicalized. they're looking of course at any potential overseas travel. they're looking at who this person communicated with. there's a lot of different levels of isis involvement. we are seeing isis directive, where people are communicating with people overseas and being asked to take action. or a disturbed individual who became radicalized in the united states. mainly by marinading on online

propaganda and decided to plan an attack. they're running down every possibility. >> ken, can you talk to us what we're watching transpire in vegas. what law enforcement is telling you about any belief of connection between these two incidents. >> yeah, apologies i have not focused on las vegas at all. other colleagues have been looking into that except that i've been told by the people who are reporting on this investigation, the truck is new orleans that there's no connection. no known connection between the las vegas incident and the new orleans incident. >> nbc news ken dalinian, ken, thank you. and we want to bring in former fbi assistant director

frank figluzzi. frank, what are we learning about the incident in las vegas. >> it's all about determining a couple of things. first and foremost, any evidence that he really was engaged with any other associates. is there any continued threat for the public. kudos to ken and tom for putting this in proper context. we all came away from that briefing that they believe he didn't act alone. so now we know that they that people are not in danger. is there any reason to believe that he truly was directed by isis as ken said. there's different levels of recruitment here a lone actor is very different than receiving direction and training from isis itself.

the more time goes on the more it looks like this was a solo actor. the question is why. what happened? i will note a couple of things that are noteworthy to me. first his age. if you're talking about radicalization within violent jihad, this is old. 42 years old is old. it speaks to me a possibility that he was a convert later in life. we don't know that for sure. but it's on the older end of someone who is going to become a martyr. he seems to have disappeared. he should at 42, someone who is in business realtor, whatever he was doing, should have a greater footprint on social media. he does not. it's very, very limited. that may be noteworthy. >> both of those pieces the fact that he's on the older end and seems to have disappeared does not seem to have a social

media of interest. there's folks reeling from the fact that this is a person who served in the u.s. military. does that surprise you, frank? >> it doesn't. u.s. military is not a monolith. they get training, they see often see combat. although there's no evidence of that for this gentleman. he served in afghanistan but his mission was human resource specialist. and so that is not, we cannot assume from that that he had any kind of iud training or anything like that. nothing surprises us anymore. we saw veterans involved in violence on january 6th at the u.s. capital. remember also from texas by the way fort hood, the fort hood shooting was an army physician who did that. so it does happen. >> frank, as you watch, it is new year's day, we're watching two potential terrorists activities explode on to the

national stage. can you give me a sense of how the fbi sort of investigating each individually. and then assesses whether or not there is any connection between these two incidents? >> yeah that's a great question. there's a lot of people now who are not getting that day off they thought they were getting. it's the connecting the dots the fbi is particularly good at post9/11. now with the rest of the intelligence community. so there will be intelligence analysts at head headquarters. at the two involved field offices and they'll be asking the questions. did we miss anything. was there anything connected at all. was this about targets a trump property because of some political domestic motivation. who is the victim here? who is the deceased person. was that person actually the perpetrator or were they duped

into driving the cyber truck. we still need to find that out. >> a lot of questions, i also want to ask you frank back to new orleans. you had the city preparing to host the sugar bowl football game tomorrow. of course that was initially scheduled for today. can you give us whether or not they have the infrastructure necessary to assess whether or not something like that is in fact, safe. and if they have the additional resources necessary at a moment of heightened security? >> yeah, so, interestingly it won't be the fbi who comes in and says we'll make the call on the sugar bowl. that's not going to happen that way. it will be a very collaborative law enforcement and government officials at the state and county and city level who come together and say what's the intelligence we have right now. that's the first question. is there any continuing threat. yes or not. if there's any doubt and i will

quote my friend jim kavanaugh who was on here with me earlier. if there's any doubt, there's no doubt you should not move forward, number one. and then do we have the capacity to truly harden this down the way we want to. good news, the sugar bowl and the other major bowl games are already major security events. i would feel very secure if i personally held tickets and i heard government officials saying we've got this. i would not have any questions about going. but you're going to see lots of extra bodies for sure. we have already heard officials say we're bringing national guard police units. there will be a lot of extra bodies. a lot of pat downs. go early, you're going to be in a long line. they may push the perimeter farther out. it's not in the major crowd. it's not impacting the stadium. you're going to see all kinds of drones and aviation technology.

actually things that are even perhaps classified which we are to detection of certain biochem and radiological devices. they will make the call if they say, we can't be certain that we rounded everybody up. they'll postpone it again. >> frank, all eyes tonight are on new orleans. on las vegas. but, i am sure there are also law enforcement officials in other major american cities who are having planning conversations about what this looks like for them. talk us through the conversations that are likely happening. preparations that have taken place. >> we have rose bowl games, all kind of things that are going on, very open, very public and

normally looked at as softer. officials put up more drones for new year's eve. you're going to see more and more police departments put up drones. you're going to see more facial recognition that seemingly failed with magioni on the ceo murder, it is helpful in identifying and matching to known suspicious actors. it doesn't help you with an unknown. so, you know, if you're just walking down into the stadium: you've got no terrorist watch on you, you've got no criminal record, no easy way to match you with records. that doesn't help. but it does help to see if we've got a known bad guy in the crowd. >> frank as always, thank you so much. we're going to be back with you a little later in the hour. now to nbc news correspondent george solis who's joining us from new orleans. george i have watched you in that spot for the past few hours. what can you tell us?

>> yeah, alicia. i can tell you it's a very somber mood here. on new year's day you would still have some revelers out and about. you wuld would see the energy and excitement. you can see the police presence here overpowering anything that is happening on the streets here. which is part of this growing investigation. you have the state police here. local police. you know other law enforcement agencies will be out here on the ground beginning to pick up the pieces. if they do have appeared to have recovered all the bodies from the scene. that begins the long process of the identification. the death toll now climbing to 15. you also have a number of college students and their families. keep in mind the sugar bowl was expected to take place. you have notre dame, many of them wondering whether or not they'll go to that game tomorrow. that game now moved to 3:00 tomorrow. again, the energy here, it's very, very different than what you would expect to see the day

after new year's. many of them wondering if it is safe to be out and about. you heard from officials here on the ground. even the governor plans on attending the game tomorrow. there's no stone unturned. they're trying to reassure people that the city is safe. although there's still many questions on how this unfolded. >> the 15 people killed, the death toll has risen. what do we know about them, who they are? >> they're obviously, a lot of chatter online. we want to be very careful about who we identify at this time. we want to make sure the next of kin is identified. but what we can tell you from our own independent reporting, the ministry of foreign affairs say that two foreigners

were killed. and a student was killed. we hear some of the injuries of those in this attack are pretty serious and severe. one can help medical professionals are doing their job to make sure more lives are spared. >> for those who have not been in new orleans, is densed, packed with hotels. packed with tourists. as you said there are a lot of folks who are in town for the holiday. for this game. what are police officials telling tourists who are seeking to stay or to clear out the area? >> yeah, looking around again you can't really tell from where i'm standing but i actually can tell you there's tourists that are out milling about. of course many of them overtaken by curiosity about what happened here. and of course by the large media presence. right now there is no lock down here in the city. so you do see the police sort of engaging with the tourists and the people of the community here. they want to make sure that people feel safe in this town. as you mentioned, this is a historic area.

the french quarter ordinarily bustling with a lot of people, music, some of them open to my distance. you still see a sense of normalcy but obviously there is nothing normal about what is happening here today. >> all of our hearts with the city of new orleans today. george solis, thank you, george. still ahead much more on what we're learning about the suspect. the u.s. military veteran. and how people are radicalized. we're back after this. and that she will never forget how mom and daddy love her. st. jude, i mean, this is what's keeping my baby girl alive. announcer: you can join the battle to save lives by supporting st. jude children's research hospital. for just $19 a month, you'll help us continue the lifesaving research

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c1 as we come on the air we are learning that there will be a press conference at the las vegas police precinct tonight at 7:00. we'll bring that to you as soon as we have it. and we're learning more about the new orleans attack. he's an american citizen from texas. he served on active duty in the army as an administrative clerk for nearly a decade. he was honorably discharged in 2020. what we do not know yet is how he may have become radicalized from mass violence. and whether he had any help along the way. joining us is frank and judd. judd i want to begin with you.

i asked frank what about the suspect surprised him. he pointed to the suspect's age. that he disappeared for a period of time. did not have a social media footprint. from the little we know. what stands out to you? >> thanks for having me this evening and based on what's come out about this individual. he seems to fit the very randomized pattern of other individuals we've seen for more than 20 years in the aftermath of 9/11 of people who fall down these sort of rabbit holes of radicalization as americans and there's no profile for this. i actually looked at this for a long time in my different government positions. and we were searching to see if there was some kind of set of common factors or patterns of behavior or things that would help law enforcement and intelligence to sort of get more upstream of this kind of activity to stop threats. and despite all of that analysis we could not really at the end of the day come up with

any grand insights on this. so we're going to find out that with this person, probably took a combination of factors that drove him over several years period to commit this attack. >> how could someone who served in the u.s. military be radicalized. how could they carry out an attack like this. what would you say to them. >> unfortunately we're seeing another example of this. if your viewers remember in 2008, major hassan in fort hood texas murdered several of his fellow army soldiers because he also had been, had fallen under the spell of jihadists radicalization for quite a long period of time and rather than trying to commit, in fact, outside an army base he did it to his fellow soldiers in a

mess hall actually. he was a major and a medical tkra doctor. so very different from the profile of the person who committed the attack last night. but we've seen this where other folks with military background have fallen to this. and it goes to the ideological spectrum. there's people with foreign military and lay enforcement background. this is another really troubling aspect of radicalization and extremism in the unite. >> frank, we keep talking about potential ties to isis. can you give us a sense of how that then becomes investigated, substantiated by law enforcement. >> you start big with the regards to the american community and allies internationally who will be asked, i am sure they've already been asked. do you have anything on this

individual. any indication that he's experienced training. he's traveled and been radicalized. do you have anything at all. if that answer comes back no. even if it comes back yes. then the pyramid gets tighter as we get into his residence and devices which is already happening. and you look for this kind of more localized radicalization. online radicalization. what is he watching? what are the videos. are there radical sermons. but, as referenced there's no magic formula here. many people who are even martyring themselves don't fit a certain cookie cutter profile. because they have many other things going on in their lives that lends them to this recruitment scenario. there's something other than true belief in violent jihad that gets people to this point often. not always but often to be able to martyr themselves. >> for those of you who are

joining us. president biden will be speaking at 6:30. we will take that live as soon as we have it. john, i have asked frank this question as it relates to the fbi but given your experience at homeland security, at the pentagon, what are the conversations likely happening at those institutions about one. how this guy didn't show up on anyone's radar. assuming he did not. and two how this changes the assessment of the threat level in the country right now. >> going back for quite some period of time. that both at the pentagon and our own agencies there's been efforts to try to figure out if people have taken an oath to uphold the american institution to defend the country, are there ways that these signs of radicalization and mobilization of violence can be detected and the pentagon has tried to put some of these programs in

place. both on the jihadist side and on the sort of neonazi, white supremacy side of things. it's hard to know from the outside now looking in, how effective those programs are. but this is all based on the recognition that our own government or people in our own government institutions aren't immune from this and going back to the case of major nadal hasan in 2008. he was exhibiting pretty troubling signs but none of those signs were troubling enough for him to get either referred to fbi earlier. or even the army criminal intelligence division or other criminal investigators in the army then he was able to carry out his attack. so this is just another part of the threat landscape that has to be looked at. even people inside our own government can fall prey to these things and how do you, how do you find those people before they are willing to go

out and act violent. >> a reminder that we are waiting for president biden who is at camp david. he is slated to speak any moment. frank, as always you will forgive me if i have to interrupt you for the president of the united states. but i am grateful for the context he is giving us and reminding us that extremism is a clear and present danger in many forms. that this is something that is being reckoned with at a societal level. at an institutional level. i wonder what you are expecting to hear from the president of the united states not only what we have seen in new orleans but the larger moment we find ourselves in. >> well, we're going to hear of course that all federal resources have been brought to bare. that's an obvious statement. but knowing joe biden, he tends to wax a bit and get philosophical about the situation we're in. we've been in a heightened

threat environment. certainly at least since october 7th and the attack on israel. over and over again from the fbi director, the dhs secretary who testified on capitol hill that there's something out there. that there's a highened threat because of this. that there's calls for jihad against the west generally. so that kind of thing when you hear government officials particularly the fbi director, chris ray who's been kind of really tight lipped on such things. when you hear them say that with confidence, that we're looking at a threat. that it's out there. it's coming, and they say it repeatedly. they have the intelligence available to them to know we're under threat. and i think biden is going to remind us that these are harrowing times and unfortunately on a happy day. a first day of the year. those holidays do become targets in and of themselves. because of national attention, and big events happening. he's the great consoler.

you will probably hear him talk about the victims here. i think that's important that people are suffering today because of evil. because of hatred. because of violence. >> striking to me the fbi ordinarily does not put out photos of a suspect as early as they did in this investigation but they are seeking any help. any leads that they may be able to get. what type of information is most useful to them at this point in this investigation? >> frank, knows this better than i do because frank was an agent and i'm not. but getting the picture out and the name out so quickly. this is an attempt to help broaden the pool of information about jabar. why did he commit this attack. how long did it take him to plan and prepare for it. are there other people who potentially were, aware of it or perhaps assisted or enabled it. that story has changed

throughout the day. but now it seems like it's more of a lone wolf category. at least right now. lone offender category. i think this is the right thing to do. just to have the public come forward. and provide information about even though he is dead. to help close some of these gaps or fill in information where the fbi is still unclear on how to answer some of those questions. >> frank, kicked it over to you so i'm going to do the same. the decision to share that photo. to share it so early in this investigation seeking help from anyone who might have information. what is the information that the fbi is likely looking for? >> yeah, look, this is a sign that we understand today's reality. that crowd sources solutions to a crime is the way to go. we saw it work effectively with regard to the ceo bryan thompson's murder in new york. the answer is out there as they say. and that's with all of us who

might know his associates. know what got him interested in radicalization or radical ideology. even little things. he stayed at my place two weeks ago. i saw him at the motel 6 as he was journeying from texas to louisiana. any tidbit that could help the investigation it becomes part of a puzzle that the fbi is trying to assemble right now. >> of course the question, that matters to people of new orleans, certainly the victims and their families which is why new orleans. why on this day? if the point here is to make sure that america is safe and secure. if we are probing these questions in the interest of our safety and security, how does leaving the door open to

xenophobia. >> there were other isis inspired attacks. san bernardino, in orlando, then in new york city. all those people were as well the first two, san bernardino and the orlando attack were u.s. citizens. the ones in new york were not. hopefully one of the things that president biden will do is obviously, denounce the attack itself. but not do anything to sort of fan the flames of because jibar was an american muslim to suggest there's something else. there's a bigger threat for

american muslims beyond this evil attack itself. so we have seen a pattern of these isis inspired and al- qaida inspired attacks but hopefully it does not lead to a backlash of the broader muslim population. >> we're waiting for president biden to deliver messages. he's at camp david. we're going to take those remarks as soon as we see the president. i am curious frank, the nature of this attack. the fact that it was a motor vehicle. the ways in which that makes it more complex. both for the fbi to catch some of these suspects. the way it makes it more difficult to prolong law enforcement to protect folks from an attack like this. what do we need to know? >> i think it's the simplicity of using an automobile to carry out a terror attack. that actually makes it so much harder for the fbi to get out

in front of it. anyone can rent a car. and or truck. you got that going for you. you could even steal an automobile which would make it even harder to trace you perhaps. it's that ability, very sophisticated bombings, chemical attacks all of that. by the way, the u.s. government is excellent at detecting and mitigating against those sophisticated attacks. but renting a truck and driving it into a crowd while shooting a long gun, is almost you know, is almost too easy because law enforcement isn't able to detect that ahead of time. that's the problem. and he's likely seen the success of other attacks around the world and very recently in germany at the christmas market. and he said, look, this is worked over time. it's proven. go with what you know. that's what i'll be doing. >> i wonder also the fact that there were believed to be

explosive devices frank what that tells you. >> yeah, and let's all, let's all be cautious about all the reports because as tom winter helped us with. maybe some of those were not really ieds by indeed if they have actual wires and batteries and pipes. right now i can assure you if that's the case they're trying to figure out would this actually have detonated. would it have worked. if it would have worked he has that knowledge from some where. or some person because when you look at his military background, basically an hr specialist. maybe at a time an it specialist. none of that sounds like any official bomb training. he would have likely learned that elsewhere. and by the way not hard to learn. unfortunately. get on the internet and you will find the instructions. >> as always, thank you so much for your expertise. professor ali, thank you sir for being with us. we're awaiting president biden. he's going to speak on today's attack in new orleans. we're going to bring that to

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we intend to be transparent in assessing any defects that may have existed in the system so that we can address it. that's the only way to ensure that any mistakes that were made are corrected. >> that was louisiana governor jeff landry earlier today addressing the apparent

security failures that allowed a lone man to run into people. and there's a number of upcoming events in new orleans. tomorrow the sugar bowl. february 9th the super bowl. and joining us fredrick alexander, senior law enforcement analyst on 21st century policing. gentlemen it is good to see you first. jim cavanaugh, help me understand how law enforcement assessing what went wrong here. the failures that took place and why it is critical to making sure that cities are better protected for plans like these. >> certainly we'll have the

internal affairs and the state will look at the events clearly and see why that narrow street of bourbon street, the most iconic street in the city and the state. and one of the most iconic in america was not covered, barricaded and protected. it's a glaring failure. i don't think we need a six month commission to figure it out. i think it's pretty obvious. leaders are incredulous that a driver would drive over a sidewalk. and violates a traffic law and jumps up on the curb. well he had run over a patrolmen if he had to to go on this murderous rampage. the fact that anyone could be surprised by that, it's just shocking to me. certainly that law enforce. professionals wouldn't see that right away. now we're not talking about trying to protect every sidewalk in the city the size of new orleans.

that's not possible. but to protect the sidewalk of the iconic center on bourbon street is possible and very easily. i think what's going to happen, they're going to be mired down in litigation now the city from the families of all these deceased victims there. i mean, with the money they're going to pay to fight the lawsuits in that. they could have bought a fleet of new dump trucks to encircle the whole french quarter. it is a lack of sitting down and having some ranking commander responsible for each particular section and method of attack. and you know, i found this in all my bombing investigations and snipers and killers and murders and chaos, that i often had to assign a person specifically. you are the special agent that's going to be assigned to take this task on. to make sure this happens. so in other words, the chiefs

to say, lieutenant you're the lie tenant in charge of the french quarter. you must make sure that the french quarter is not subjected to a vehicle attack. parking two police cruisers that's not protection. an assailant can show up in a dump truck and push the cruisers down the street. you have to think about what is happening and have a ranked person from a vehicle attack, drone attacks. if you're not encompassing it all. you have to break it down. get ranking commanders for those things and possible avenues of attack and lock them down. and they didn't do that. you know, they are professing today to us all that this is

the safest city. but we all see it's not. so, i hope, i think the governor you just played the clip. i think he made the best statement today. the one leader who seemed to want to accept responsibility for the failure. and you know, sounded strong that we're going to correct the mistakes, find out what they are. >> cedric, at the same time that there were mistakes there were also incredible acts of bravery on the acts of some of these first responders who showed up at the scene. it now comes in the wake of the city hosting a number of big events right. you have the sugar bowl. the college football game. supposed to be today has been postponed to tomorrow. you have the super bowl. you have mardi gras, talk about the coordination that requires on the part of local law enforcement. and the real tax it puts on local law enforcers. >> these events are not new to new orleans as we all well

know. they've been managing bower bourbon street for a very, very long time since the beginning of that city. they've been managing major games and parades for a number of years. they have the experience, the personnel. going back to something jim kavanaugh was just mentioning, yes they should have been much better prepared for a january 1, 2025 night on bourbon street in new orleans and of course followed by a sugar bowl game where you have thousands of people that are in town. and those locals who are out enjoying the festivities of the new year. i think one of the most important things here to i think will be reconciled over time is the thereafter action reporting. they're ready to see where their flaws are. were there some things they could have done better, yes.

were there things they did well. yes. they were able to neutralize this attacker before he caused any other further harm in that community. and i just think over time, as we gather more information about this murder, and as we learn more about what we could have done better, you'll see those things of course rectified. but new orleans has a long history of doing good police work and have many of the same challenges as many of the police departments across the country. but in the grand scheme of all of this. there's certainly something for them to learn in terms of what they can do better going forward. but i also think this needs to be a clear wake up call to every city across this country. that hosts town events or large city events is that we need to take better precautions and

make sure we have all the necessary personnel, equipment, etc. we need in any type of street event. >> cedric alexander, jim kavanaugh, thank you so much for joining us. we're awaiting president biden's remarks on this morning's attacks in new orleans. stay with us, we hope to bring it to you. ask your doctor about farxiga. right now across the u.s., people are trying to ban books from public schools and public libraries. yes, libraries. we all have a first amendment right to read and learn different viewpoints. that's why every book belongs on the shelf. yet book banning in the u.s. is worse than i've ever seen. it's people in power who want to control everything. well, i say no to censorship. and i say yes to freedom of speech and expression.

if you do too, please join us in supporting the american civil liberties union today. for over 100 years, the aclu has fought for your rights and mine. including the right to read all manner of books. so please call or go online to myaclu.org. for just $19 a month, only $0.63 a day. you can become a guardian of liberty and help protect all the rights promised to us by the u.s. constitution. make no mistake, this move to ban books is a coordinated attack on students right to learn. this is a clear violation of free speech. that's why the aclu is working to fight against censorship in all its forms. it is so important now more than ever. so please call or go to myaclu.org and become an aclu guardian of liberty,

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>> back with our special coverage of the attacking new

orleans. we are learning more about the vick dems who were killed when a manager of a pickup speed on bourbon street into a crowd ringing in the new year. if officials say at least 15 people were killed, dozens more were injured. police say the majority of the the rooms appear to be locals, not tourists. nbc news confirmed that 37-year- old reggie hunter is among those killed . his cousin describing hunter as a doting father, two boys, ages 11 years old and one-year-old. nbc news also confirming martin tyler basch was killed. he graduated high school in lafayette, louisiana in 2016. he's remembered as a standout in football, lacrosse, and track and field. joining me now, greg larose, editor of the louisiana illuminator. thank you so much for being with us as we continue to cover this story. what more do you want to know about the human toll here. >> one thing, i believe new orleans is familiar with mass casualties, whether we are

talking about a hurricane, we are no stranger to mass shootings and that doesn't really numb us from what happened today. i think it served as a real wake-up call that these events that we think, or may have thought were limited to cities like new york, berlin, major global centers, we are just as vulnerable and i think that leaving people to really take a step back and kind of look at an overall security situation now. >> especially for a city that has too often been called upon to be resilient. both to you and to our viewers at home, we are awaiting

president biden, who is planning to make remarks on what happened today in new orleans. you will forgive me if i need to interrupt you for the president of the united states. but tell me what you think it is that folks in new orleans need and want to hear from the president of the united states. >> i think they're going to want to hear more details in regards to the extent to which the f i will go to find out just how wide of a web was cast between the known suspect that was behind the wheel of the pickup truck, and what officials are saying, of his accomplices. we are getting reports of a nearby house fire that officials have said is connected to the attack. there is surveillance video that shows three men and one woman placing an explosive device in the french quarter. these are things i think, understandably, they have people on edge and anything that the president and any other leader, for that matter, could say to assure people that they're safe while the

investigation occurs i think would be helpful. >> just to clarify, the fbi has updated the information and nbc news is reporting that the three folks who were believed to potentially have acted in conjunction with the main suspect turns out to simply have been bystanders. that one point has been clarified but i hear you on the broader point. this is also a city that has got a big calendar coming up. the sugar bowl, which was supposed to, as you all know, to be today, postponed to tomorrow. the super bowl, of course the iconic celebrations of mardi gras. i'm going to go now to the president of the united states. >> i know i speak for all americans when i say our hearts are with the people of new orleans after the despicable attack that occurred in the early morning hours. to all the families of those that were killed, to all those who were injured, to all the people in new orleans, who are grieving today, i want you to

know, i grieve with you. our nation grieves with you. we're going to stand with you as you mourn and as you heal in the weeks to come. i want to thank our brave first responders and law enforcement personnel who stopped the attacker in his tracks before he could kill or injure even more people. i want to thank you to everyone at the department of homeland security, the department of justice, including the fbi, working nonstop to investigate this heinous act. the fbi is leading the investigation to determine what happened, why it happened, whether there was any continuing threat to public safety. here is what we know so far. the fbi has reported to me, the killer was an american citizen, born in texas. he served in the united states army on active duty for many years. he also served in the army reserve until a few years ago. the fbi also reported to me that mere hours