alcindor reporting from washington, d.c., and there's a

lot of breaking news this hour. we're awaing press conference set to start any moment about that cyber truck explosion yesterday that killed one person and injured seven others outside a trump hotel in las vegas. we'll bring you that conference when it begins live. but we want to begin with the fast moving developments in new orleans. the fbi now believes the driver who rammed his pickup truck into a crowd on bourbon street killing 14 people -- well, we're actually going to stop and head out to vegas because that press conference is starting right now. >> on las vegas boulevard yesterday. our work never stopped. as many of you went to sleep last night. i want to give you an update of a lot of what we found in the processing of the cyber truck. this is a joint investigation involving the fbi, the atf, the las vegas metropolitan police department and these folks worked through the night and found a lot of stuff that is very useful for this investigation. as you look at this cyber truck

here, we had to transport this down to our fleet services so that we could really get through this thing. i remind you that the subject inside wasn't able to be removed for a very long period of time. he was burnt beyond recognition, and so as we continue to move through this, i'm going to talk a little bit about his identity and what we believe, but i would like to highlight a couple of things that the teams found inside of the cyber truck that are useful to the investigation and that first and foremost is a military identification. we also found a passport. we found a desert eagle 50 caliber semiautomatic pistol, and if you'll notice on a lot of these guns that we're going to talk about here, they're almost just burnt beyond recognition as well. there's an slr del b 30 semiautomatic firearm. a number of fireworks that were still in the vehicle that had to be removed. notably we found an iphone and a

smart watch, and then several credit cards were also in the name of our subject. our subject is 37-year-old matthew livelsberger, born july 22nd of 1987. as you'll sea on a picture of his driver's license, the question really still remains for me, and i know that there's a lot of you folks in the media that are identifying this person as the person in our vehicle. as i mentioned to you already, his body is burnt beyond recognition, and i do still not have confirmation 100% that that is the individual that was inside of our vehicle. and so as i'm calling it now, the subject or person of interest, i will not come back until i have the confirmation through dna or medical records that this, indeed, in fact, the subject inside of the vehicle.

now, further complicating this identification of this individual, we also discovered through the coroner's office that the individual had sustained a gunshot wound to the head prior to the detonation of the vehicle. one of the hand guns was found at his feet inside of the vehicle. obviously in how we're trying to identify him, and i'm feeling comfortable to give you this information is a tremendous amount of substantial evidence to include he rented the turo vehicle. there are two tattoos, one of which was on the stomach and one of which is on the arm that we can see bits and pieces of it as in comparison to what it is we now know he had on his body. that is giving us a lot of confidence that this is, in fact, the same person, as well as, which the clearly obvious, which is the credit cards, the

military identification, the passport, and then furthermore, as you'll see here in just a very short period of time, we tracked his movements from colorado to las vegas and in a number of the photographs that we were able to determine he was the individual that was driving the vehicle. and also i'd like to iterate this point to you, we still have only ever seen him in this vehicle, and we're not aware of any other subjects involved in this particular case. now, i would like to acknowledge a couple of things because i know what's going on in the social media world and there are a number of things in this case that are similar to the attack in new orleans. we do know that our subject here served in the military. in fact, he's a current member of the military. both of the subjects served at fort bragg, north carolina. what we do know about that is it's a very large military base, and we have no record that they served in the same unit or even

at the same years at fort bragg, something that continues to remain under investigation. i also know that they both served in afghanistan in 2009. we don't have any evidence that they were in the same province in afghanistan, the same location, or the same unit. again, something else that remains under investigation. and we also know of course that they both used the rental company turo, to rent their vehicles. as far as his military background, it's been confirmed by d.o.d. that he was, indeed, in the united states army. he was also a green beret operations sergeant who spent most of his time at fort carson, colorado, and in germany. he was on approved leave from germany, where he was serving with the tenth special forces group. he was also previously in the national guard and the army reserve. i'd like to point out to you that through exceptional joint

investigative effort, we've gotten to a place where we believe we can show you his route to las vegas from colorado. and carlos will put up the map there for you. we know that he rented the cyber truck in denver on december 28th. we tracked his movements through the tesla charging stations to monument colorado on december 30th. on the 31st of december, the truck was charged in trinidad, colorado. las vegas, new mexico, and albuquerque and gallop, new mexico. on january 1st, the truck was charged in holbrook, flag staff, and kingman, arizona. we last tracked the truck at 0533 yesterday morning. the truck was first spotted in las vegas at 7:29 a.m. yesterday.

and carlos will pull up a picture of the truck on to fashion show drive theory. and that picture was observed at about 7:34 a.m. we know that he pulled into the trump valet. i believe we have a video of that. you can see the cyber truck highlighted there. highlighted t. so through extensive surveillance video, we were able to track him leaving there, and we know that he went to several different places along las vegas boulevard, and he spent some time in a parking lot of a business near flamingo and las vegas boulevard. we then have a video of the truck pulling back on to las vegas boulevard from the sands.

see that there? that's north on to boulevard from sands at 8:39, where he then immediately heads to the trump hotel, pulls into the valet area, and as of course you all know, the explosion occurs within 17 seconds of his arrival at the valet. there's some additional investigative updates that are going to be provided to you by a couple of the other speakers here, the first of which will be our special agent in charge of the fbi local office, spencer evans. spencer. >> good morning, my name is spencer evans, i'm the special agent in charge of the fbi's las vegas division. as the sheriff mentioned we have been working through the night with our partners, the las vegas metropolitan police department and other agencies to gather all the facts and determine a motive to what was initially reported to the fbi as a bombing incident to which our special agent bomb techs and others responded.

obviously we're always concerned in these sorts of events to ascertain what motive is. we understand that's everybody -- at the forefront of everyone's thoughts. looking into exactly what the motivation is remains our number one priority. this is why the fbi's joint terrorism task force has been brought into play. the joint terrorism task force, most important part of that acronym is joint. it is done in concert with our partners, which are comprised of more than a dozen investigative agencies, here throughout the state of nevada. we have been working hand in glove, side by side, tirelessly to determine is there any ongoing threat to the public to identify the subject, to determine any potential connection to other events going on in the world, most notably in new orleans, and obviously to determine if there's anything else that we need to be tracking down. at this time, as the sheriff pointed out, we feel the subject has been identified, though not conclusively, waiting for dna evidence on that front. however, we do feel like we have

the subject identified, and at this time, there is no information about additional subjects that the fbi is tracking on. our resources, as i mentioned, that have been deployed in support of this event, include special agent bomb techs, our evidence response team, which is processing crime scenes, side by side with the forensics folks from las vegas metropolitan police department. our investigators, our intelligence analysts, and outside of the fbi las vegas field office we have investigative leads that are being conducted by fbi field offices, both internationally and domestically as well. as always, when the fbi is involved with any sort of case like this, we ask for help for the public, anyone with information related to this incident, we encourage you to please call 1-800-callfbi or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. we have received thousands of tips related to this incident. the challenge moving forward is

separating those that are pertinent, relevant, and those that can be verified from those that are not. one of the tips we received just today relates to information alludes to this subject's personal experiences related to his time and activity in the military. again, that's unverified and uncorroborated but one of many tips and leads that we will be following up in the days that come. if you have any additional information, again, encourage everyone, 1-800-callfbi or submit it online, tips.fbi.gov. we will work to exhaust all leads and conclusively determine what the nature of in particular incident was, what the motivation was and to the extent possible share that information as we obtain it. i'll turn time over to the assistant special agent in charge from the atf, kenny cooper. good morning, everybody. my name is kenny cooper. i'm the special agent in charge of the atf san francisco field

division. atf is bringing our expertise in post blast investigations and crime gun intelligence to specifically assist in this investigation. i will tell you that our special agent bomb techs are working with fbi and with las vegas metro, and sifting through that post blast debris to find components and investigative leads that will derive from that evidence process. we're too early into that investigation process to give any determination as far as how this device was initiated. i will say that we do know that the components primarily consist of fireworks, mortars, aerial shells, and our all consumer fireworks, nothing commercial grade has been discovered at this point, and we have identified some fuel enhancers like the coleman fuel, and vp racing fuel, and some explosive targets that can be purchased at

any sporting goods store. we've also, as the sheriff mentioned, we have identified two semiautomatic hand guns recovered from the tesla. we have successfully traced those firearms, and i can tell you that matthew livelsberger lawfully purchased both firearms on december 30th, 2024. we have agents follows up those investigative leads. we know exactly where those firearms were purchased, and we will share any developments from those leads as they come in. thank you. >> we also have the clark county fire chief here, john steinbeck, and he didn't have any additional updates, but if there's any questions in regards to what the fire department did during this, he's here to answer those questions as well. with that, i would just like to say before i take a couple of questions from all of you,

you'll notice that we are not releasing information that we haven't corroborated and verified. we're well aware of all the things going around on social media. but that's just the way we're going to conduct this investigation. we're not putting it out until we can tell you for a fact what information it is that we're putting out. and so we're going to continue to do that. i'm also confident to tell the las vegas community and this great nation, we don't believe there's any further threat from the subject or anybody associated to him here in las vegas. with that, denise, i saw you had your hand up, if you could just identify yourself, please. . >> reporter: does the suspect have any ties to las vegas? >> the question was does he have ties to las vegas, and had he been here before. >> we had one instance a number of years ago where he stayed at a local hotel. we're trying to verify that information as well. >> reporter: the alias, used,

you have a gentleman in a cyber truck from a hotel. there's information that the fbi was in colorado springs last night, possibly at the gunman's home. any information about why? >> i think i'll let spencer answer that question. >> as i mentioned, the motivation at this point is unknown. we are, as i mentioned earlier, following investigative leads both domestically and internationally as well. so that includes search warrants, and witness interviews, collecting forensic information and basically trying to compile the facts, and so there's investigative activity taking place literal lir ly aro the globe, trying to determine the nexus. at this particular moment in time as the sheriff aptly said, we have to focus on what we know and what we don't know. we have a bombing, absolutely, a bombing that has factors that raise concerns. it's not lost on us that it's in

front of the trump building that it's a tesla vehicle, but we don't have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of this particular ideology or that, you know, any of the reasoning behind it. that's the purpose of the investigation that we're conducting is to get to the bottom of exactly what happened, why and how. >> sir. you mentioned a number of similarities between this case, and new orleans. how far do you guys go to rule out that they are connected, knowing that you have a couple of things that seem to connect it together? >> so the question is how we work to rule in or rule out connections to the new orleans event and the answer to that is every tip and lead that comes in, every piece of evidence that comes in, we don't discount it, we work through it. it's an interesting thing during these kinds of investigations that if these turned out to be simply similarities, very strange similarities to have. and so we're not prepared to

rule in or rule out anything at this point. there's lots more for us to do in this investigation. we haven't even gotten into the phones or computers, which are usually very very instructive and informative to us as we investigate, and we've got a lot more work to do to trace him, to see the stores he went to, to rule out anybody else. lots of investigative work to do, and we're trying to give you an update on what we know now that is factual [ inaudible question ] >> the question is was the gunshot self-inflicted? we do believe it was, since he was the only person in the vehicle, and it occurred immediately prior to the vehicle blowing up. back there, sir. >> reporter: with the evidence you've seen so far, are you comfortable calling this a suicide mission? >> the question is am i comfortable calling it a suicide mission. i'm comfortable calling it a suicide with a bombing

immediately thereafter. i'm not giving other labels. >> reporter: has the family shared any prior red flags. >> the question is did we have any of the family members share any particular red flags. i'll go back to what i know is circulating on social media. none of that has been verified at this point. >> reporter: the final question quickly, all the components you found inside the cyber truck, were they all purchased in colorado? >> the question is did we -- were all the components found inside of the cyber truck purchased in colorado, and i don't know the answer to that. that's part of why we're doing the extensive part of the investigation. >> the associated press, can you talk about the security measures you have in place at the hotel now. >> reporter: as you know, we successfully completed a new year's eve event, where hundreds of thousands of people come to las vegas. i've extended our posture just like it is for a new year's eve event, where i have thousands of police officers that are working day in and day out. obviously dozens and dozens of

people that are working on this investigation as well. we'll continue to look at what that security posture looks like, but i'm confident in the safety of our community as we move forward. go ahead in the middle there. >> reporter: [ inaudible question ] >> the question was is there any criminal record? none that i'm aware of. that has not been brought to my attention that he has a criminal record, and i said that the cyber truck was rented on december 28th in denver, colorado. right here. >> reporter: have you -- [ inaudible question ] >> the question is did we know if he checked into the resorts world the day before this? i'm not aware of that information.

sir. >> you mentioned the presence at trump national, that would extend further along the strip or just there. >> the question is generally about the security posture, and that's our entire community, not only fremont street and the strip but surrounding neighborhoods as well. just to make sure that we have the community feeling that level of safety they need to feel after an event such as this. right next to you there. >> reporter: [ inaudible question ] >> the question is how were we able to use the charging stations to track the vehicle all the way through? i'm not exactly sure how to answer that question just yet. i know that there's some capability by being able to determine that the car is connected to the charger. one of the things that we're looking for is anybody that may have been at the charging location at the same time. we're looking to try to identify them. their vehicles would have also had cameras that would have taped anybody in and around them

or trying to get people that may have been in the same locations at the us as well. two more. go ahead. >> reporter: can you talk about -- [ inaudible question ] >> the question is about the cyber truck and the lack of damage to the cyber truck in containing the explosion. carlos, if you could put that truck back up there. it might be helpful. you know, you'll see, if you look on the outside of that vehicle, it's hard to tell from that photograph, but other than the windows being gone, that's a bit more disassembled than it was at the scene, and the back area being blown off, there's no evidence of physical damage to the sides of that vehicle, and so the explosion that was in that vehicle sort of vented out and up, but it didn't even

damage the glass doors, so i'm not sure what that means. i also know there's a number of unexplodes pieces of the things he had inside the vehicle. i don't think it's on as well as he was expecting it to be done. go ahead. >> i was wondering were you able to recover the video from the cyber truck or was that -- >> the question is are we able to recover the video from the cyber truck. many of you may know those cyber trucks contain a tremendous number of cameras. mr. musk has sent out a number of his folks that will be arriving here this afternoon with the intent to try to capture the part of that capture all of the video from inside the truck. sir. >> quickly, you mentioned a number of components in the back of the truck that did not go off. maybe this is a better question for atf, when it comes to the rudimentary nature of the bomb, we think of a bomb that's

connected, this seems like individuals put together. can you speak to how you think this is a bomb or fts it just several pieces of things that might blow up, might explode, lifting off at the same time. >> i'll tell you, it does appear that it was -- i just want to be careful with my language here, but the level of sophistication is not what we would expect from an individual with this type of military experience. most of the materials inside that tesla were fuel to help fuel a greater explosion. it's too early to answer any questions as if there was sophisticated connectivity to those components to make it ignite in the way that it did. >> there was one last hand over here. i'll take the last question. >> special agent evans, any idea

of the suspect that's been in touch with outside terrorist groups, has this investigation extended globally? >> the question is do we know whether the subject has been touched with outside terrorist groups or if it's been investigated globally, and spencer, you want me to -- >> the question about whether it's being investigated globally, absolutely. we're running down leads around the world. no information that we're aware of that connects this individual to any terrorist organization around the world. that's obviously the thrust of the investigation is ruling out that there's any sort of, you know, terrorism nexus, and again, what the ideology is. >> we appreciate you all coming, and we will be back before you when there's substantial updates to provide to you. thanks for all your great work. that was law enforcement authorities in las vegas. they held a press conference

where they talked in detail about that explosion of that tesla cyber truck there. they talked about a number of things, including the background both of the suspect in the las vegas explosion but also the new orleans attacker saying that there were a lot of similarities, though there is, at this point, no definitive link. they showed video of the tesla noting it exploded within 17 seconds of pulling up at the valet at the trump hotel in las vegas. there's no additional information about other subjects at the time in las vegas. they talked about the fact that the motivation in the las vegas explosion is not known but that they are investigating that, and they really did call out to the public saying anyone who might know anything about this should get in touch with authorities and talk to them about what they know. thank you so much for watching that. we're going to now of course get more information from nbc news's david noriega and ryan reilly who's going to be here. we have rob d'amico, and joining me here in washington, d.c. on set is christopher o'leary, a

former senior executive in the fbi counter terrorism division and leads a global operation for a global intelligence and security firm. a lot of news after that press conference in las vegas. ryan, you have covered a lot of these sorts of unfortunate tragedies. give us your biggest takeaways as you think about what we learned just now. >> they're smartly using caution about what they're learning and making sure that they are 100% certain of something before they out p out there. that's what you have the caution of saying they don't know definitively this is the individual in the car, but it's pretty close at this point. we know he rented it. there's no evidence of anyone else being in that car. and there's no evidence this person is still here, the tattoos, that's a way to dwet -- get this over the finish line. we're getting a profile of the individual, a lot of work by the

online sleuths. surfaced stuff already. i have to be cautious about what i put out there before we get to that air. what we know is this was someone who was well traveled. someone who went to thailand. some of the travel was with the military. some of it may have been private. we're trying to figure out those details. i have looked at his trip adviser account. he's been to italy. we have a photo of him actually where his eyes are very red, and the reason for that is because when he was in thailand, he claimed that he had contracted pink eye at a class he took there. so really we're getting a portrait of this man up to a point. we don't know what happened in the past couple of months. we can look at the target he was going after and surmise. we're still trying to figure out what was the driving motivation, and what he intended there, yamiche. >> and, david, he talked a lot

about the truck. showed pictures of the damage of the cyber truck explosion. talk to us a little bit about what we know there. >> reporter: one of the things that stood out to me about the press conference is elon musk is sending people to las vegas to help kind of figure out or extract whatever kind of information they can extract from the truck. as they pointed out, these trucks gather information in a number of different ways. they have a tremendous amount of cameras. they were able to track it when he drove it from denver, when he rented to las vegas, across the multiple stops. those charging stations gather information about the vehicles that connected them. that's how they were able to pinpoint it. there's a lot of information that's going to come from the truck itself. as far as the biography of the person, one of the remarkable things that has come to our attention over the last just hour or two came from an army spokesperson who told nbc about to individual's highly decorated

military career. he entered active duty with the army special forces in 2012, he served in the democratic republic of the congo. he had more than 30 awards and medals, including a bronze star medal with valor. that valor designation means he obtained it through acts of heroism specifically in combat. i think this is going to be an important part of putting together this person's biography, being in the army, army special forces was an important part of his life, served with distinction. he was on approved leave when this happened. a major piece of the puzzle. >> chris, thanks again for being here in washington, d.c. it was interesting to hear the officials talk about the fact they thought maybe this would be more sophisticated and they expected more sophistication, and didn't see that in the evidence they recovered.

what do you think of the evidence they did recover, fireworks, other things they found. >> rob, both of us have worked closely with the u.s. special operations command over the years. it's very sad to see this act. this individual would have had the know how to compose a more sophisticated device if he wanted to do so. it leaves me as a counter terrorism practitioner to want to know what his motivation was. why did he carry out this symbolic act is probably where i would want to lead my investigation, and terrorism, and acts of political violence, if it turns out to be that, are often not intended to cause mass casualty events. september 11th and groups like al qaeda and isis focus on that. most other terrorist groups do

not intend to cause mass casualty events. >> it's interesting, rob. i want to come to you. when you hear what chris is talking about, there's an idea about the sophistication, and stuck out in my brain, a strange coincidence. maybe you thought this was a joint press conference. they talked about the similarities between the attacker in new orleans and the suspect in las vegas. does this raise questions to you when you think about the suspect's backgrounds, the military backgrounds and the fact that they both used the same car rental app for these vehicles? >> absolutely. too many similarities to say they're not connected at all. could be a triggering event, say the car incident in germany, triggered people who were thinking about this and then maybe act. the one similarity, the uro car rental app is important because they may not have knowingly

collaborated but that act may have been discussed in an online chat group or encrypted chat like telegram, where isis was talking about using that app in order to get around some of the stricter requirements of going through the rental agencies. it's a starting point to look at the chat groups. was that discussed? do any sources know about pushing that app in order to do it, and they can go backwards and say might not have done it together. they may have been part of some chats that discussed how to do certain things. >> chris, as you talk about sort of chats and other things that this suspect might have been doing, authorities said they're going to be running down leads from around the world. what actually goes into that. >> the fbi has personnel deployed across the united states in 56 field offices, the joint terrorism task force in each field office is the lead for conducting investigations into these matters. we have personnel deployed in 70

countries around the world, including liaison agents with special operations, both down in florida and with the command over in europe, with the special forces, there are liaison officers directly plugged into them. there will be agents conducting interviews of all the personnel from those commands, and trying to find out, was there something that triggered him to go down this path when his history and his record and his dedicated duty to service suggest otherwise. i think, you know, there are some things to answer. were these two events connected, my instincts tell me more likely than not, no. but you also can't believe in coincidences and the fact that they're renting from the same kind of unusual car rental place. you have to answer those questions. i do think it would be, number

one, it's highly to have somebody with his record engage in this activity. it would be more unusual to do it on behalf of isis. >> it's certainly heartbreaking and a hard way to start the year, by david noriega, ryan reilly, thank you so much for your reporting. rob, chris, stay with me, and in 90 seconds, we'll go back live to new orleans where there's heightened security today for today's sugar bowl game. how they're trying to keep tens of thousands of fans safe, a day after the deadly bourbon street attack. stay close. our coverage continues just after this. our coverage continu after this trading app makes trading easier. with its customizable options chain, easy-to-use tools and paper trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. e*trade from morgan stanley. power e*trade's easy-to-use tools make complex trading less complicated. custom scans can help you find new trading opportunities, while an earnings tool helps you plan your trades and stay on top of the market. e*trade from morgan stanley.

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let's get back to our other breaking story, the attack in new orleans. the fbi now believes the driver who rammed his pickup truck ento a crowd on bourbon street killing 14 people and injuring 35 others acted alone. >> we do not assess at this point that anyone else involved in this attack is involved in this attack except for shamsud-din jabbar, the subject you have been briefed on. let me be very clear about this point, this was an act of terrorism. it was premeditated and an evil act. >> investigators also revealing the attacker had posted a series of videos, pledging his allegiance to isis. authorities have recovered surveillance video of him planting improvised explosive

devices prior to the new year's day attack. we do want to warn you this next video is disturbing. it shows the moment his truck went speeding down bourbon street. in just the last 24 hours, the fbi has received some 400 tips. they still need more help from the public. they have identified the attacker as shamsud-din jabbar. all of this happening as thousands of fans head to the super dome in new orleans under heightened security for today's sugar bowl. you can see the massive crowd already there. and joining us now is nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian and news correspondent george solis. covering the reopening of bourbon street, and kathy park is live in houston where the fbi conducted the search. this was big news to hear the fbi say they believe the attacker acted alone, after yesterday saying they believed he had help. what else did they reveal about him, and what are those videos

with him talking about isis, what did we learn there? >> it was remarkable to see an official from washington, d.c., christopher ryan, the assistant director of counter terrorism come down to new orleans, and supplant the special agent in charge who said yesterday things that were wrong. both clips contradicted things she said yesterday. the fbi is getting the full story out there, saying that this was essentially a lone wolf attack, and they also talked about how they think he became radicalized, although they're still filling in the picture. they talked about, as you said, some videos that he made in the car as he was sort of planning and on route to the attack. take a listen to christopher ryan. >> jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the quote war between the believers and the disbelievers,

end quote. additionally he stated he had joined isis before the summer. he also provided a will and testament. >> what the fbi is saying is they're still seeking information about his path to radicalization. this is a person, 42 years old, military, u.s. army veteran, father of three. two failed marriages. he was in some financial trouble. it's unclear exactly when he began to embrace radical islam and isis, but it certainly appears he did that, and he was flying an isis flag as the fbi said when he ran that truck into that crowd. >> really really tough to even think about his background and what his family members are thinking, that they might have been targeted. george, you're there on bourbon street, a place i have been, come to love, a place so many other americans have come to love. it's being reopened and the mayor talked about the process of clearing the scene while respecting the victims. what else did we hear from her,

george? >> reporter: you can see some of the liveliness coming back here to bourbon street. what the superintendent here told us about an hour ago, is they are going to reopen this under strict security, essentially what they call hardening the targets. behind me you can actual a larg still the entrance to bourbon street for any vehicle. also put up barriers on the sidewalks. they're not taking any chances, and what you're going to see down there is a very very large police presence, so it's not going to be the bourbon street that many are accustomed to seeing, given what happened here. you mentioned obviously a lot of nodding to the victim here. they had a second line, brass band that played before the opening, paying tribute to those that were lost, and all of those that were injured. we're learning the names of those that were killed in this horrific, horrific attack. they wanted to make sure that all of those bodies were removed from the scene before reopening

bourbon street, and of course what you're starting to hear, and neigh be faint from where i'm standing is some of the music, the liveliness returning to the street. keep in mind, there's also a lot of football fans here. you have uga, notre dame, still at some of the bars, making their way to the super dome, presumably once the game lets out later this afternoon or early evening. we will see those folks flock back to bourbon street. you're going to hear the conversation, a lot of that music, and people hoping that some sense of normalcy, albeit, very hard given what happened here to return here, yamiche. >> definitely a tough scene there. and, kathy, you're in texas where the fbi is carrying out search warrants, doing that in multiple states. it comes as we learn more about the attacker's personal life. you spoke to a neighbor of his, what did he tell you? >> reporter: that's right. we made our way to the houston

area, near the last known address linked to the suspect, and i spoke to a neighbor who said he's shocked this individual carried out this attack. he said his neighbor, jabbar, moved into the neighborhood a year and a half ago. he was pretty quiet. there was a point where he lived with his mother. i asked this neighbor who asked to be anonymous because of potential security concerns, i asked him when was the last conversation he had with the suspect, and he said it was actually on new year's eve. he saw that white pickup truck that everyone has probably seen by now, he said, it was parked here. he was packing up some light items, and he said he was headed to louisiana to begin a new life, to begin new work as an i.t. professional. so that was the last conversation that this neighbor had with jabbar, but the suspect has deep ties to texas. he posted a video back in 2020 on you tube saying that he was born and raised in beaumont,

eventually he would relocate to houston. he also touted his real estate experience. i can tell you, yamiche, this is a far different scene right where we are standing compared to what we saw this time yesterday, this area, the 12000 block of crescent peak drive was completely surrounded by law enforcement, both at the local and federal levels. the entrance to the community was completely blocked off. as of 7:50 a.m. this morning, the fbi said they completed their search the area is clear and there's no longer a threat to the community. they were pretty tight lipped about sharing anything that they may have uncovered as far as evidence goes in this neighborhood, only to say that they were here, they had a footprint in this community because of the ongoing investigation in new orleans. yamiche. >> thank you so much to kathy, ken and george for all of your reporting. and back with us are robb d'amico, and christopher o'leary. rob, we heard from the fbi that they're conducting searches in

multiple states, and they have recovered several cell phones and laptops. give us a sense of what could happen with the evidence. >> the biggest are the cell phones. the biggest way these people communicate is encrypted apps. you know, telegram and signal, we talked about, those are the big ones, and if you're not on a device that has that, you can't crack the ryption. you actually have to have the device. it's important they break the pin, get into the devices and look and see who he was talking to on those applications because there's going to be history on the laptop with the browser history and search histories and such, but the phone is really the key nowadays, and the encrypted apps are a behind spot for the government, and they're really hard, unless you have sources that are communicating with the subjects that you can see them, it's really tough to look into. i think those are the biggest keys to look at how he was communicating, what he was

talking about, and then the laptops will probably be next with the search histories. >> yeah, and chris, we are learning some really interesting things, some heartbreaking things really from the "new york times." they report a man now married to the suspect's ex-wife, the suspect in new orleans said he had been acting erratically in recent months, crazy, cutting his hair after converting to islam. his wife stopped allowing jabbar's daughters to spend time with him. what's your reaction to that, especially when you hear the subject, the attacker here was thinking about harming his own family members? >> it sounds like from everything that i've learned and what the "new york times" is learning is he's a recent convert, revert, is the term to islam, and often people who make that jump tend to go over the top, to be more radical because they're looking for legitimacy from their peers. so he went deep into radical islam pretty quickly, and altered his behavior, became likely intolerant. you can see the way he's growing his beard is very indicative of

a certain type of salafi approach. there are some pictures that demonstrate bruising on his forehead, which is really for those who are practicing islam peacefully indicating a very pious person. and those . >> considering what a photo could tell us as chris is breaking this down, what do you think the attacker's family history in building a profile of him, how important could that be? >> it's going to be huge. you're going to have to look at the slide and how it goes, and i think we're going to take some of his posts and his text messages and all of the things they get off the electronics, and start understanding when the slide started occurring, when he got radicalized. with chris's experience, he can look at a photo and tell you all of that because he's just done

it over and over for years and years, but i think when you start combining all of those and looking at pictures and communications that he's doing, they're going to start to understand how that slide and where it got accelerated and maybe even on some of the search histories and texts, they'll start understanding where he went to get operationalized. he went from thinking about it, to planning it , to actually getting that vehicle and making the decision to go. >> if i could ask you also, the fbi has also sort of cleared the scene here. but i wonder for so many people who are still gathering, who are going to be in big crowds, how do you stay safe? how do you even feel safe on bourbon street? i'm wondering for myself, if i'm walking on bourbon street next month, mardi gras season, how do you stay safe in a situation like this? >> you hope the new orleans police department, who has deep experience protecting special events and large crowds, they

learned from the fatal flaw they had the other day. i would argue and hope there's probably no safer place in the country, and the decision to turn it back over is intentional. that is an approach that a lot of countries use to get society back to normal and especially in environments where you have a repetition of terrorist attacks, you don't want them to start steering what your citizens can do, and what your society allows. >> yeah, well definitely critical. i know so many people are probably thinking about that. thank you so much to rob and chris for your smart, smart analysis. and up next, why using vehicles as weapons has become more common in recent years, and the challenges of keeping the public safe. a former new york state homeland security dviser joins us after this break. security dviser joinr this break

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today president biden assembled members of his homeland security team after promising to keep the public informed about the despicable attack in new orleans. the events on bourbon street are the latest in a long stream of vehicle-based attacks against crowds, a technique that is straight out of the isis handbook. joining me now is former new york state homeland security adviser, michael balboni, the director of redland strategies. thank you so much for being here. though the fbi now thinks the new orleans suspect acted alone, what kinds of questions should president biden be asking of his homeland security team going forward? >> given the threat environment that fbi director christopher wray started talking about basically a year ago, and the transition in between presidencies, and just generally the threat landscape from overseas, that should have been more of a signal on the intelligence side, and that's something that even though this is is a vehicle-born attack is probably the hardest to predict,

and yet in this type of situation, you really had to think about, what were the prioritization of this event itself because it's a soft target. that's why vehicles, that's when they have the best impact for the attacker. that's the most likely chance of success, and that's what they want here. if i'm president biden, what i'm doing to my homeland security team is saying to them, how are we prioritizing and assisting localities with vulnerability assessments for soft targets as we go forward. >> yeah, big questions, and we would just note those were live pictures of bourbon street as it's just about being reopened as people are taking those first few steps after that attack that killed some 14 people. but i want to ask you, michael, "the new york times" reported that post 9/11 with airports and public buildings becoming more secured, terrorists have turned their attention to other public

spaces. in general, how difficult is it to protect these spaces, especially in big cities like new orleans, new york, from car ramming attacks? >> so the challenge is -- there are two sides to the security coin, if you will, one is the intelligence side, what's going on, who's been radicalized, find something on social media, get information from neighbors, maybe if they're developing weapons involving a bomb. they've got chemicals, they've gone to stores and bought those things. that is like looking for a needle in a hay stack of needles. there are so many threats that are out there. the other side of the coin is this vulnerability assessment where you go and you take a look at multiple factors. one, so what is the soft target, how many people were gathering. what is the news worthiness of that gathering itself.

second, what is the actual vulnerability, how open are the streets? and you can't always base your future security based upon past events because that will lead you down a path where someone's going to do something else, and what we have seen for isis in the past is that they're very inventive. we recall everything from the shoe bomber, to explosives on planes. here, let me be very clear, we're going to be very critical. a the lot of people are being critical of the louisiana and new orleans police in not stopping this. let me tell you, this is the worst nightmare of a security official, you have a radicalized, lone wolf, suicide attacker. it's so hard to predict, so hard to anticipate. the video was so heartbreaking, you see this car make this turn and just go down the road. you say, wow, if you could have just shot out of the vehicle. shooting at a vehicle really

works in the movies. it's incredibly hard to fire on a moving vehicle. there are many police departments that over the years have said, you know what, that's not the response because you could have ricochets, you could hurt other people surrounding the vehicle. >> definitely heartbreaking. thank you so much, michael, for all of your analysis, and stay close, our coverage continues after this break. ose, our cover after this break e tradeoffs of ? ubrelvy is another option. it works fast, and most have migraine pain relief within two hours. you can treat it anytime, anywhere. tell your doctor all medicines you take. don't take... ...with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. get help right away for allergic reactions like trouble breathing or face, tongue, or throat swelling, which may occur hours to days after use. common side effects include nausea and sleepiness. migraine pain relief starts with you. learn how abbvie could help you save on ubrelvy. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need,

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good afternoon, i'm yamiche alcindor reporting from washington, d.c. and right now, fans are heading into the 70,000 seat super dome in new orleans under heightened security. the college football playoff quarter final between georgia and notre dame was supposed to take place last night, but it was postponed due to the terror attack just about a mile away on bourbon street. the iconic night life scene reopened to the public this afternoon after the grim work of clearing the street where 14 people were killed and 35 others were injured. as officials worked to keep the city secure. an investigation into the deadly truck ramming attack is intensifying. today we learned officials now believe the attacker acted alone and that he proclaimed support for isis in several online posts before the attack. >> jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned the news headlines would not focus

on the, quote, war between the believers and the disbelievers end quote. additionally, he stated he had joined isis before this summer. he also provided a will and testament. >> and nbc news' tom winter is following the investigation from new york, and nbc news guad venegas -- gadi schwartz is in las vegas. what are we learning as authorities dig deeper into the attacker? >> about this time 24 hours ago, there was a bit of a question as to whether or not any other individuals would be involved. that kind of continued into the evening when local authorities suggested that there could be others staying at an airbnb that jabbar had before getting into the truck and dropping off explosives, and secondly getting on to bourbon street and conducting what has been a tragic attack that killed 14, 15

dead total, including jabbar there, we're looking at him on screen. what officials said today is based on their investigation so far, they've got surveillance video of him dropping the bombs. that was a bit of a question, who was involved in that. they've got all sorts of evidence they've uncovered so far. video evidence, time line information. they have looked at his phone records, his call logs. they also have five videos that he made starting on new year's eve day, very early in the morning at that time, yamiche. they found five videos where he talks about his allegiance to isis, he wanted to carry out a violent attack. he considered killing members of his family, but didn't think it would get enough media attention. based on everything they have put together, they believe at this point he acted alone. whether or not there's any connection between him and the las vegas incident and what happened there, that's something that they haven't seen any definitive links yet, but boy do they caution, same with las vegas officials that it's early in both investigations, and so

that's something that they're going to continue to look into as well. we know that he picked up the truck on december 30th in houston, drives to new orleans, and then is obviously targeting bourbon street in this incident that we've seen, and now bourbon street being opened. that's something, by the way, just to make a point of this, that's something that counter terrorism officials talk about globally each year, which is how to move on from these incidents and not to give too much attention to these terrorists. one of the things that they talk about is the idea that once an attack occurs, yes, get your thorough investigation, do the right thing by the victims, get the information you need to get from the crime scene, clean it up and move on. that's something that's actually helpful to the community. that's something that is actually helpful to moving on from this and not giving terrorists too much attention. that's something that they've talked about in the past, and so that's something clearly they have done here. and for new orleans, from a tourism standpoint, that's something obviously they want to project, tear ability to get

back to this. the questions still remain about the security posture from here, and just to fact check the governor, he said there were no dogs that would have been able to sniff out these explosive devices. bomb dogs typically are targeted to something, yamiche, but there are dogs trained as vapor wait dogs that would go through a crowd and perhaps pick this up, maybe something they deploy in the future. >> definitely a lot of questions, and, tom, i know you have a lot of reporting to do. we're going to let you go. and thank you so much for your reporting. gadi, bourbon street has just reopened. so many people, including myself have really fond memories. how are people responding there? >> reporter: bourbon street has reopened, and now canal street has reopened. i want to show you, this is where that truck came through. you can see you've got a bear cat, you've got the department of homeland security staging

some special operators over there, and more traditional police forces along the way. this street is blocked off by this massive truck. again, this is where the truck popped up on the curve, and made it through. there's a little bit of a memorial right here. people are leaving beads and flowers for some of the victims, but right here, these are the barriers they have put in. these barriers are temporary barriers. they were put in a little while ago to prevent any type of vehicle to get up there. there's a removable barrier, a wedge barrier, they didn't have those barriers in place because they sometimes would have mechanical problems, and they wouldn't be able to get them down in time if an ambulance needed to come in here, so the wedge barriers, they talked about during some of these press conferences, but the idea of bollards, this used to be a place where bollards would go up.

if you have been here at night, you know bourbon street closes down to cars, and it becomes, you know, party central of the big easy. this is such an important part of new orleans. like the community here is really the driving force behind so much of the tourism and tourism is what puts new orleans on the map. this is a place where we've heard over and over again from some of the city leaders. we reinvented hospitalities when you walk down the street here. the bollards used to be in place, apparently because of mardi gras beads would get jammed in there, it would become problem some. all of that obviously now is going to be taken under consideration going forward. there is talk about the possibility of just shutting down bourbon street, only opening it to pedestrians going forward, but, again, all of that stuff is still pretty preliminary.

i want to show you, this is the first street where we're crossing. it's three streets down that that truck made it down, so all the way down here, this is where, unfortunately, through the viewing of a lot of videos that we have seen, some of them that we can't even show you because they're too graphic, the most of the fatalities happened here in between this street and between that street. at that point, the crowds seemed to have seen that there was a commotion coming down, and they were able to part. so many miraculous moments of people jumping out of the way, when the truck barrelled down. finally the truck coming to a stop, and that's when the driver, the terrorist, emerged and you had officers just running down as fast as they could, trying to get to that truck. finally, pulling up, they opened fire, the terrorist was killed right there. and the other thing that i don't think people understand about how chaotic the situation was,

again, 3:15 in the morning, hundreds, thousands of people out here, but so many of them were in the bars and the clubs, and so they hear this commotion, they all try to rush outside, and the police pushed them back in, and so there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that are stuck inside of clubs, the music is still playing. people know there is this horrible tragedy outside, yet they're unable to leave. they are stuck in this perg pergatory, stuck inside, unable to leave. however today is all about the new orleans resilience that we see on display. a little bit earlier there was a very moving procession, some of the native born sons of new orleans, the musicians that have played and grew up here in the french quarter came out with their trumpets and with their horns, and they walked down with

some clergy all the way down the street, almost blessing bourbon street, playing that music. one of them told me, you know, louie armstrong, music is the great healer, and to hear that sound once again here on bourbon street, it definitely sent shivers down your spine, and that is how this community wants to move on. they want to mourn the loss of the lives that were taken here on this street, and they know that the way to do that is to move forward as quickly as possible so that the terror doesn't win. yamiche. >> yeah, and you think about new orleans city, a city that had to rebuild after katrina. a city that had so many issues with violence, poverty, to see bourbon street reopening, just this quickly, and to see the resilience on display. this is a city having been there a number of times, people there really understand how to pick up and how to both mourn and show people grace and to definitely mark a sad moment and also move

on and push forward. thank you so much, gadi schwartz for that. incredible report walking down bourbon street as it reopens. nbc news's jay gray is joining us from new orleans. the sugar bowl is about to kickoff. this was a game that was supposed to happen yesterday. it was postponed. talk to us about the security changes and what you're hearing and seeing? >> yeah, yamiche, and very serious and extensive changes to the security plan and footprints surrounding the sugar bowl. you're right, game postponed yesterday, and so now it's going to kick off in less than an hour here. and what we have seen is an expanded perimeter around the super dome where the game is going to be played. stepped up personnel, federal agents as well as local and state police. you've got more bomb sniffing dogs, and you've got constant checks inside the stadium, and that's been going on since the attack, and will continue through the game. you've got personnel inside the stadium, many more officers than

initially planned because of what's happened. i can tell you, there's been pushback, in fact, the state's attorney general said they should postpone this game at least another day. the governor, though, said that, no, we're ready. we're not going to let terror win. the same message we're hearing from so many on the ground. we're going to do what we were planning to do. he said this area, the french quarter, as well as the super dome maybe with this stepped up security, one of the safest places in the world. and when you think about new orleans, yamiche, it's an area that really is tied to celebrations, to parties, to tourists. you've got three big events each here. i've lived in louisiana, you've got the sugar bowl, then in a few days, you've got mardi gras, and then you've got jazz fest, a couple of weeks of concerts, there's no real joy here, and they want to bring that back. >> they want to bring that back, and i'm sure with the new

orleans experience, they're going to be able to bring it back. thank you so much, jay gray, for that report. joining us is council member freddy king iii. fans are heading into the sugar bowl. people are walking down bourbon street. what are you hearing from constituents as they're trying to recover from the terrible tragedy that happened just yesterday. >> thank you for having me on. i spoke to several business owners, several residents who just came from bourbon street and the french quarter, and canal street, and people are excited to get back to some sense of normalcy. people are just ready to move forward. of course we send our condolences to those who were injured as well lost, and wish them a speedy recovery. but i can say that the people of this city are resilient. the business owners, residents, businesses, we know the task,

and put our best foot forward to make sure the world sees the city will not be intimidated by the terrorists, and keep moving forward, hold large events and be be that world class city, and first class city we're going to be. >> yeah, and i want to ask you about sort of the assessment here. the assessment in what we're hearing from law enforcement authorities are that this attacker apparently had no accomplices, but was radicalized. despite what the fbi originally said yesterday was there was possibly multiple accomplices, how confident are you in their assessment today? >> i'm confident in their assessment. i'm no law enforcement expert. i'm not a member of law enforcement. i'm going to defer to the experts who say there were no accomplices. there were so many stories, and i would say maybe just rumors and misinformation. it seems like we're kind of getting to the bottom of this, that this person was a lone actor, and there are no other accomplices. that's satisfying to hear because a lot of folks were

concerned, like, is that the accomplice. is that right there someone i should be concerned about. it seems like everything checked out. there are no further accomplices, and that's a good thing. that's good news to hear. >> i also want to ask you as we talk about concerns, city officials said new orleans was in the process of replacing some of the security posts on bourbon street when this attack happened. what questions do you have about that, and do you have any concerns about future security, especially when you think about the fact that bourbon street, a place that you have been, a place that i have been. a place we know a lot of people gather, some are maybe disappointed in the fact that this attack was able to happen, and those security posts weren't able to stop this? >> i think the security post conversation is a bit of a red herring. if you watch the have i video, individual ve around a cop cruiser, that was in the place

the bollards would have been. that did not prevent the person from jumping the curve and sidewalk, and the bollards would not have prevented this individual from jumping the curve and driving on to the sidewalk. looking at all security measures on bourbon, and within the french quarter, possibly having security bollards or traffic cone devices from sidewalk to sidewalk, and look at the intersecting streets along bourbon, how can we make that safer. there has been talking about making the french quarter and bourbon street a pedestrian mall. that conversation would happen in the future. i'm not sure if that's the answer. you still have to have deliveries coming in, you have to have street cleaning, wait for ems. but i think it's definitely time to have a conversation. it's time to have the conversation to determine what's the next step forward to make bourbon street and the entire french quarter safer for pedestrians and limit vehicle

entrance to the french quarter. >> yeah, well, thank you so much for joining us. my heart goes out to you and all the people of new orleans as you guys are trying to push ahead from this. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. still ahead, new details on the deadly cyber truck explosion in las vegas. what we know about the driver and his military background. we're back in 90 seconds. round. we're back in 90 seconds ♪♪ well would you look at that? jerry, you've got to see this. i've seen it. trust me, after 15 walks, it gets a little old. ugh. i really should be retired by now. wish i'd invested when i had the chance... to the moon! unbelievable. stop waiting. start investing. e*trade ® from morgan stanley.

now for the latest on the

other breaking news story we are following, the cyber truck explosion outside the trump hotel in las vegas yesterday. police have identified the man as 37-year-old matthew livelsberger of colorado spring. officials confirming he's an active duty member of the elite special forces unit. back with us is nbc news' tom winter. what more can you tell us about the man who rented the cyber truck? >> he's the individual they believe is the person who was found dead inside of that cyber truck. they want to do a little more analysis because the injury, specifically the burns he received as a result of the video we have seen of this incident, he's 37 years old. he's somebody whose military service, by the way, overlaps in several bases, potentially with the new orleans suspect, although, again, as they have said in new orleans, as they said at the press conference in nevada, there's no definitive

links between these two individuals or any sort of indications that they had been in contact. but it's something that they're definitely looking into, and it's something that they have not ruled out. apparently he recently purchased within the last week, two semiautomatic hand guns that he died by suicide, as i mentioned, a self-inflicted gunshot wound. you're looking at one of the hand guns that was recovered there, obviously burnt. there's another weapon that was burnt as well, as a result of this incident. unclear how the device was set off. there was racing fuel and fireworks that were found on all of those fireworks went out. apparently elon musk is personally dispatched a team of tesla engineers there. trying to extract more data and information from that vehicle, which was rented, according to police, on december 28th. and they were able to track that. they actually presented a map of the press conference everywhere he went. of course he would have to charge that vehicle up. you're looking at the map of his

travel path from colorado to las vegas. they also have photos of him driving the car, from toll plazas, surveillance video, and he's the only one seen in the car in every various instance where they have seen him. he goes through the trump portico in the valet area once, he leaves it, goes to an area business. this here is apparently him going to some area businesses, and then he goes back. he's there for 17 seconds. the gunshot occurs, and shortly after that, the explosion goes off that we've seen now several times, and there's the aftermath of the fire sprinkler system and suppression system at the trump hotel, trying to put that fire out. ultimately they had to put a blanket over the vehicle, which is something fire departments have to do because of the batteries and the way that they come bust even when water is put on them, yamiche. >> striking, and really sad to look at those images. thank you so much, tom winter, for your reporting. and next, the fbi says

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we are learning new details about the man behind the deadly attack on bourbon street. shamsud-din jabbar was a texas resident who served for 14 years in the army before receiving an honorable discharge in 2020. four years later he pledged himself to isis, according to an fbi review of his social media. >> he posted several videos to an online platform proclaiming his support for isis. in the first video, jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the, quote, war between the believers and the disbelievers, end quote. additionally, he stated he had

joined isis before this summer. >> joining me now is nbc news national security correspondent courtney kube, also with us is nbc news correspondent kathy park in houston, texas, where jabbar lived. courtney, what can you tell us about jabbar's military background? >> reporter: yeah, so he served on active duty, he first signed up in 2006, enlisted in 2007. he actually was assigned his first job, served on active duty until 2015. during that time, he did deploy to afghanistan in 2009. at the time, he was primarily working as an administrative clerk. sometimes working in human resources. he also had some roles in i.t. or in cyber. for the most part, he was serving in an administrative role during his time in the u.s. army. he served on active duty, and joined the army reserves where he served until 2020. he was then honorably discharged. he has a number of awards and

citations from his roughly 14 or so years in the u.s. army. most of them are relatively standard. he has good conduct medals. he has medals for his deployment to afghanistan and other things. most of them are unit medals, as opposed to personal ones. looking at what we know about his background in the u.s. military i would say there's nothing that stands out particularly, because he was serving in more of an hr or ad admin kind of role. he doesn't have seemingly any time in conduct. he was never awarded a purple heart for being injured in his service. there's nothing that stands out about it. as you mentioned, he's also from texas. we don't know beyond the fact that he was honorably discharged from the army reserves why it was that he got out of the military. i've spoken with a number of people who served with him in units throughout the course of his time. most of them described him as quiet, and never really had --

didn't have anything that they would say that really stood out about their time serving with him, yamiche. >> and, kathy, courtney broke down his military background but we're also learning a lot about his personal livment fe. you're there in texas, what are you hearing? >> reporter: yamiche, good afternoon, we have learned overnight that he was a long time deloitte employee since 2021. nbc news has obtained public records showing that he was apparently having some financial troubles following his divorce proceedings in 2022, and then he was also in debt when he formed his business. but as you mentioned, we are in texas for good reason. he has deep ties to the state. according to a video that he posted back in 2020 on you tube, he said he grew up in the beaumont area and relocated to houston. and we are right by the residence, the last known address linked to the suspect. and i can tell you this time yesterday, the area was surrounded by law enforcement,

both at the local and federal levels. the entrance to the community completely shut off to the public. as of 7:50 this morning local time, the fbi said that they searched the area, the area has been clear, they did not say exactly what they were able to uncover, as far as the evidence goes. they only told us they were here. they had a footprint in the community because it was part of the ongoing investigation in new orleans. meanwhile, yamiche, i want to point out, i spoke with a neighbor earlier today who obviously is in shock, knowing that his neighbor, jabbar, committed such a heinous act. he said he ved in this community for about a year and a half or so. i asked, when was the last time you spoke with him, and he said it was actually on new year's eve. he saw that white pickup truck in this area. jabbar, allegedly was packing up this vehicle, and he told the neighbor that he was in route to louisiana on new year's eve to begin a new job in i.t.

yamiche. >> yeah, some really important reporting, talking to someone who was actually talking to him right before all of this. thank you so much, courtney, and kathy. joining us now is christopher o'leary, a former senior executive in the fbi counter terrorism division. he now leads global operations for the sufan group, a global intelligence and security firm, and former senior counsel to the house intel committee and founder and executive director of the national security institute, jameel jafers, thank you both for being here. what are investigators looking into to determine why this happened, and how he went from being someone who has this long history in military service to someone who was radicalized and pledging allegiance to isis. >> yeah, it's the psychological of it, getting inside his head, getting the digital exploitation, going through his devices, looking at what he posted, pledging allegiance, and also his will, really dissecting

that, where did he learn that? because that is not something the average american knows, and what was the path bringing him from grievance, if he had one, towards mobilizing toward violence, and why was it such a condensed period of time. those are things that are important, but also analyzing critical life changes. he went from serving honorably in the u.s. military, that was structured and had purpose and meaning, and then he got out of it, and tried to succeed in civilian life, and it looks like he struggled. he had multiple divorces, financial troubles, his business failed. all of those can push somebody to find meaning and purpose elsewhere. unfortunately he found it by trying to affiliate with isis. >> very fortunate. the fbi is saying he worked alone, but they're now looking at his possible overseas travel. he might have been radicalized. maybe they're looking at what could have happened there as he

was traveling. what else are they going to be doing to piece this together? >> one of the big things is this idea of digital exploitation. looking at his phone to find out knowledge how he was radicalized, did he have communications with people overseas, potentially overseas, potentially associated with isis. did he have any connection to the las vegas case. as far as we know, there's no direct connection according to the fbi. we're looking at that. that's going to be a big part of this. we talked to neighbors and other people that know him, what did he say about these things? o what caused this radicalization to happen? where did that change happen? as far as we know, it was around february of this year, those were the first posts on sound cloud which had very radical thoughts about music, about movies, all sorts of things you would expect an american to be accustomed to. >> chris, there's also this

issue that the fbi director, christopher wray has repeatedly warned about international threats. here you have what looks like a lone actor who has been radicalized. do you think there might have been something that was missed here or is this something you can't plan for, someone radicalized on his own that you can't track for? >> director wray has talked about the red light is blinking, the threat level is assessed to be worse now than it was before september 11th. not only on the transnational terrorism stage, because we have kind of taken our eye off of the problem, and the threat of international terrorism is metastasizing, but also domestically in my career, it's -- the conditions are ripe for violence domestically here too. it's really difficult to understand what we're going to do to get the nie back in the

bottle. >> how do you go from isis to isis-inspired? what's the difference there? >> you have individuals that are directly affiliated with isis, who may have gone and gotten training, may have interacted with vijts.individuals. there are times isis is reaching people on signal. other times watching videos online, they see things, they get motivated. having other difficulties in their lives, mental illness issues. this is a guy that talked about killing his entire family. that wouldn't get enough attention so he decides to drive a truck into the crowd in new orleans. i want to go to president biden who is speaking now at the white house. take a listen. >> i've assembled the entire defense and intelligence apparatus in the country. in a situation where we have

been spending a lot of time there. i'm going to take another two minutes to talk about that and go on to what we are here for. i want to give an update in the investigations into yesterday easter ron desantis attention and the truck explosion in las vegas. -- yesterday's attention and the truck explosion in las vegas. the number of people killed in new orleans has risen to 15, including the attacker. 35 people were injured. today the fbi briefed me that as of now, no information -- we have no information that anyone else is involved in the attack. they have established that the attacker was the same person who planted the explosives in those ice coolers in two nearby locations in the french quarter, just a few hours before he rammed into the crowd with his vehicle. they assess he had a remote detonator in his vehicle to set off those two ice chests. so there's no question.

remember all the talk about other people were involved, they have him. they have established he's there and established he had a detonator to explode those ice chests. the attacker posted several videos several hours before the attack, indicating his strong support or isis. federal law enforcement are actively investigating any foreign or domestic contacts in connection that could possibly be relevant to the attack. so we're also continue to go investigate whether or not there's any connection between the new orleans attack and the explosion in las vegas. as of now, as of now, they have just been briefed, they have not found any evidence of such a connection so far. i have directed them to keep looking. the individual who ran at the truck that exploded in las vegas also served as active duty u.s. army, and the fbi is working with the department of defense on investigating, including the

service members possibly motives and all of those he worked with. and who served with him, with things he'd say and do. i directed my team to accelerate these investigations so we have answers to our unanswered questions. they're making every single resource available to get the job done, and we're going to share the facts as soon as i learn them so the american public doesn't have to wonder. in the meantime, like i said last night, new orleans is a city of tremendous spirit. you can't keep it down. you really can't. and we're seeing that today. the sugar bowl is back on. kickoff is going to take off shortly. if i don't get this damn thing done, we're going to be in real trouble. and the fbi is handing control of bourbon street back to local officials. security in the area has been reinforced and this should be open for business later today, bourbon street. the people in new orleans are sending an unmistakable message, they will not let this attack or the attacker's deluded ideology

overcome us. none of us should fear it will overcome us. we're going to relentlessly pursue terrorist organizations where they are, and they will find no safe harbor here. i'll continue to provide updates in new orleans and las vegas as the facts develop. now the to business at hand. i can't tell you how much i appreciate these two men, not a joke. >> and that was president biden talking about the attack on bourbon street in new orleans as well as that explosion that happened in las vegas. i want to go back to our guests here, chris o'leary, what's your take away when you heard what the president just said, chris? >> i think the highlight on isis and isis-inspired which we were talking about right before the president came on is important. isis, we will have an isis 3.0, and i say 3.0, because isis grew out of al qaeda in iraq. we retracted and took our eye off the ball, and isis emerged.

we will have isis 3.0. we already have it. within syria and iraq, it's starting to grow again. we have a global dispersion of isis with its affiliates. we are all over the globe now, and the strength of their message in ideology continues to metastasize. so unless we have deliberate and sustained counter terrorism efforts, we're going to see more violence. >> what's your take away as you heard the president talking about the white house just now? >> i think chris is exactly right, you should worry about isis 3.0 and al qaeda, 4.0. we have a guy in power in syria, associated with a syrian version of al qaeda as well. these are real threats to america, and there are challenges in our own legislature. we have to reauthorize section 702, our surveillance authority against foreigners overseas. we have to reauthorize that. we have also let the lone wolf provision expire years ago. you might wonder why we have not

caught this. we have lost already for years the very authority we could have used to identify the terrorist, shamsud-din jabbar. >> stick around, we'll be right back after this break. we'll be back after this break. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need, and the flavor you love. so, here's to now... now available: boost max! hi, i'm damian clark. i'm here to help you understand how to get the most from medicare. if you're eligible for medicare, it's a good idea to have original medicare. it gives you coverage for doctor office visits and hospital stays. but if you want even more benefits,

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investigators are now digging through social media interviews, anything they can find to get more answers on the new orleans attacker's

connections to the terrorist group isis. here's what the fbi just said this morning. >> what i can tell you right now is that he was 100% inspired by isis. we recovered an isis flag from the back of the vehicle. jabbar declared his support for the terrorist group on social media, as i stated before, as he made his way to new orleans. >> joining us now is counter terrorism analyst, founder and ceo of influx intelligence advisers, thank you so much for being here. so tell me what do you make of the fact that the fbi said that this is 100% inspired by isis? >> i think the evidence is absolutely clear. i think the fbi would not make such a statement unless they have clear evidence. the fact of the matter is you do not care an isis flag for memorabilia in your vehicle. this is something that only the hard liners, the true believers

in the isis cause would carry. after that, the tactic of ramming, along with weapons and ieds, this is extracted from the play book of isis. this has been done before, and we saw it unfold in new orleans. and the fact of the matter is that he was not only going to mow people down and inflict the maximum number of casualties, but he intended to keep going. i mean, he went three blocks, and he intended to go further and end the night with a boom so to speak. >> and laith, investigators say jabbar stated he joined isis before this summer. what should investigators look for online, as far as his path to radicalization. it is stunning to think of the fact that he had this long military history, and then gets radicalized. >> i believe some of your guests already spoke to this, but they're going to comb through all of his social media

accounts, including on platforms that are nascent, but also encrypted. there are a number of platforms where isis and its hard liners congregate, telegram to rocket chat, to communicating with individuals directly, whether through signal or other means. they're going to come through all the networks that is related to his family, his associates, his colleagues, individuals who he might have communicated with, what kind of content was he looking at, the forensics on his cell phone. it's an excruciating process, but it's going to give them insight into that. >> yeah, and i wonder, isis no longer holds the major swaths of territory that we saw them in the past have, but the terrorist group, it continues to inspire people. why is that? why does isis have this hold and this power to be able to pull people in even outside the middle east? >> isis has always had global

aspirations. it's been steadfastly operating for well over a decade, while it's lost control of its territory in iraq and syria, it has exponentially expanded in other areas outside of the middle east. in west africa, central africa, somalia, in afghanistan, pretty huge. that message is a steadfast message to its followers that it's an agile group. it's adaptive. it's able to pass the test of time. much of the material that i put out over the past decade has been translated into dozens of languages, and this material still exists online. anybody can find it. there are major repositories for the isis archives. what isis wants to do, as it decentralizes, and no longer has territory control, it wants them to act on his behalf. you don't have to train with us, you can act on our behalf, and

you would be a member of our group and for our cause. >> yeah, well, laith, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. and on the first day of 2025, 14 people were killed in a terror attack. it's only the second day of this year, and already we're remembering people who we lost. here are just a few of the faces and names of those victims identified by family members. we have maren tiger bash, a 27-year-old, he was an accomplished football player a graduate of princeton university, reggie hunter, 37 years old, his cousin described hunter as an awesome person with a big heart, extremely funny. adored his two children, and was celebrating with another cousin who survived the attack. there was kareem badaoi, 18 years old. his father says his son had a kind heart and great personality. he recently finished his first

semester at the university of alabama where he studied mechanical engineering. nicole perez leaves behind her 5-year-old son melvin. her mother spoke with nbc news wondering how she could tell her grandson the news. >> she was happy. everybody loved her. and now she's gone and never come back. her baby, i need to tell him. i don't know how i can explain. >> so heartbreaking, there's also nakyria, 18 years old, a recent high school graduate, her mother told "the new york times," she was, quote, a joy for the little time we had her. she was about to start college where he planned to major in nursing. there was uberg goodrow, 21 years old, identified by his former high school in a post on facebook asking for prayers for his family members and friends.

there's matthew tenedorio, 25 years old, his family described him as always the one to lighten the move. he would laugh off life's challenges and spread positivity wherever he went. he worked at the super dome as an audio-visual technician, the job of his dreams. his parents spoke to nbc news this morning sharing how their son would be remembered. >> he loved people. >> he loved people. he loved animals. >> yes. >> always had a smile. always, always. so many friends. he had so many friends. >> and willing to help people. >> heartbreaking. all just so sad. and now joining us is louisiana congressman troy carter. so his district includes the area of new orleans where this attack took place. thank you so much, congressman, for being here. what is your message to the family members who lost someone in this attack? all of those people, we put them on the screen for folks to understand a little bit of what

we have lost just of course in the last day or so. >> our hearts are broken for them. our hearts go out to the families of those who lost loved ones, to those who are in the hospital, who are fighting for their lives, for the police officers and law enforcement agents who were injured in the line of duty. this is a horrific, cowardice act, one that we will continue to push back against, to fight, to protect americans from these kind of heinous acts. i know word are of little value today to the families of people that have lost their loved ones, but from the deepest depths of our heart, we offer our condolences, and well wishing, and we commit that their lives will not be in vain. we will use this moment as a teaching moment to reunite ourselves in a commitment to fighting against terrorism, to fighting against hate, to fights against violence, to pull

together and demonstrate that we're better than this. >> yeah, and congressman, as you talk about the fighting against terrorism, what are officials telling you about the status of the investigation? >> we had a briefing just a little while ago with the fbi. we were pleased to learn that it appears at this point that the subject is -- was a sole individual, that he did not have any accomplices to work with him. so it appears that taking him down shuts down at least this chapter of this horrific act. there were no other individuals, as was once thought, to have been involved. it appears that he acted singularly, and as you know, law enforcement took him down in an exchange of fire. law enforcement still on the ground gathering any and all tips, working closely with

federal, state, and local officials. we have the best and the brightest of all law enforcement on the ground. very grateful to president biden, who expeditiously released all of the resources of the federal government to assist in this effort to not only secure the area and identify that there were no other individuals involved, but to also redouble our efforts to ensure that the city is safe, that the sugar bowl is able to go forward, that the community, both those who live in new orleans in louisiana and those who come to visit are safe. >> and you mentioned president biden, have you spoken with the president, and what do you make of what you've heard? because he was of course just speaking from the white house a few moments ago. >> i think the president has demonstrated a command of the issue and a commitment with passion and compassion. if you hear and listen to his commentary, as we just heard just moments ago, and in our private conversations, this president gets it, and he has

been to new orleans and has a connection to louisiana. he's been to new orleans numerous times, and has demonstrated both in word and in deed his commitment to safety, his commitment to pushing back against terrorism, and has expeditiously made resources available that has made this entire investigation and the comfort for our people so much easier. >> yeah, well, our hearts are certainly breaking for your constituents, the people of new orleans, and everyone who lost a loved one, a friend in this terrible attack. thank you so much, congressman. >> thank you very much. and that's going to do it for me today. "deadline: white house" begins after this quick break. within two hours. you can treat it anytime, anywhere. tell your doctor all medicines you take. don't take... ...with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors.

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