i talked to mayor landrieu.e was saying back in 2016 after the attack in nice, a car attack on a promenade there. he was concerned. they did security reviews. that's when they started to put in some of the barricades. i mean, was this something was this on your radar? >> well, look, if somebody doesn't care if they get killed or shot, how are you going to stop them? there's 13 blocks of down river from canal to esplanade. that's not the only entrance on on bourbon and canal street. this guy could have gotten it. could have gotten in. and what people don't care. i mean, honestly, you're at a pretty big. disadvantage, and it's all a focus on what? and that's a very active that 100 block of bourbon street, a wall street. this is a lot a lot of shenanigans going on there. but there are police everywhere. and that guy, he didn't care. he wanted he wanted to be killed. i mean, he so i but i don't blame our police, i mean, i my hat is off to all of them. i and as soon as that happened they they ran in the right place.

i talked to mayor landrieu.was saying back in 2016 after the attack in nice, a car attack on a promenade there. he was concerned they did security reviews. that's when they started to put in some of the barricades. i mean, was this something was this on your radar? >> well, look, if somebody doesn't care if they get killed or shot, how are you going to stop them? there's 13 blocks of down river from canal to esplanade. that's not the only entrance on on bourbon and canal street. this guy could have gotten it. could have gotten in. and what? people don't care, i mean, honestly, you're at a pretty big disadvantage, and it's all a focus on what? and that's a very active that 100 block of bourbon street, a wall street. this is a lot a lot of shenanigans going on there. but there are police everywhere. and that guy, he didn't care. he wanted to he wanted to be killed. i mean, he so i but i don't blame our police, i mean, i my hat is off to all of them. i and as soon as that happened they they ran in the right place.

i mean, and, you know, mitch, mayor landrieu, what's challenging about this is that, you know, elected officials have a different set of responsibilities than even those of us in the news business. this is a breaking news story. so, you're going to -- to charles' points, you're going to get facts wrong. the fbi has been flipping their story. first they were like not terrorism, then they were like terrorism. they have been shifting their narrative too, let's be clear. but now you have elected officials, people like the speaker of the house, people like the incoming president. they don't feel any tether to truth or facts because their whole business is around demonizing the border. facts complicate narratives. there was a guy in vegas sitting in that truck when it blew up. he was a white guy, army veteran too, the guy in virginia with all the bombs, not brown, not black, white guy, lots of bombs, problem with the narrative. >> let me just mention a couple of things. first of all, i was the lieutenant governor when katrina hit. so, in my life as a lieutenant governor and as a mayor and ex

mitch landrieu, mayor, it's great to have you on the show. thank you.se safety bollards on bourbon street why they weren't there apparently they were being replaced ahead of this terror attack. what do you make of the handling of this incident and what would you say if you were still the mayor? >> well, first of all, obviously, condolences to the families. such a tragic event for all of those families and, of course, for the people of new orleans and the people in the surrounding areas who love to have visitors here. everybody's heart is broken because of this. it wounds us. as congressman carr who was on just a minute ago reminded everybody, like new york, like las vegas, like boston, the city of new orleans is a host for many, many, many major events that have millions of people at it. so when something happens like this in the hometown we feel the pain along with the families, the first responders too by the way did unbelievable job of actually eliminating this terrorist threat after he crashed into that on bourbon street. when you have a major event

will louisiana governor jeff landrieu posting on x.rific act of violence took place on bourbon street earlier this morning. please join sharon and i in praying for all the victims and first responders on the scene. i urge all near the scene to avoid the area. and like i said this is developing. we are constantly checking my phone with updates as we are learning from new orleans po police. >> griff: frightening stuff a lot of great times at mardi gras. the mindset is las vegas. all in, all party. it's interesting, louisiana governor jeff landrieu tweeting out i urge all near the scene to take precaution and cleertd area. which can sometimes a little difficult in a city used to partying and horrific tragedy unfolding as you look at images of the crime scene happening literally hours ago. >> joey: we talk about new york city and crime and what happens on the subway and things being randomly punched or shot. new orleans has been hit by what we call a crime epidemic. in 201 i went to the sugar bowl and walked around but bon street the entir

mitch landrieu got it to put security expansions in place because of the truck driving accident, theerror attack in 2016. because landrieu feared we would have a pedestrian terrorist accident like this and we couldn't protect our visitors. for some reason, that money vanished. we don't have proper working to protect these walkways in the city of new orleans. if you are going to close the city down. if you are going to close the street down, make sure you protect them for the people visiting from the terrorist. for whatever reason the city of new orleans did not do that they have a lot to answer for. the only hope i have to offer tonight. jason it is the feast of mary mother of god and she, too. ran from terrorists several times holding god close to her and trusting him. she survived and i think we will as well. >> jason: raymond, hearts go out to there everybody in louisiana. thanks for joining us. glad you and your family are safe. >> thank you. happy new year. >> jason: former coordinator former presidential envoy to the global coalition to defeat isis. nathan, the potential ties t

here now is former two term mayor of new orleans mitch landrieu. mr. mayor, our hearts, our prayers go out to your city, your community. actually, i want to start where we heard tom leave off because i think this is a really important point here. just the scale of the types of events that this city that this community has, that they deal with from a local official perspective, from a law enforcement perspective, on a regular basis. how do they move forward? what are the things that need to be done as soon as tomorrow night with the sugar bowl? >> well, first of all, phil, thank you for having me. it is. it is a day where our hearts are heavy. and of course, everybody's thoughts and prayers go out to the incredible victims. thanks to the law enforcement officers who ran to the fire and took this guy out because it could have been exponentially worse and worse. and then to the medical professionals who cared for all of the victims and of course, the deceased, it's a horrible day. tom, who spent some time down here. and if tom is listening, how are you do

cedric richmond, the former congressman, mitch landrieu, the former mayor. what do we know about his conversation with the current mayor earlier today? >> well, we know that the president called her directly to express not only his sorrow, but also his support. he said that he offered mayor cantrell the full support of the federal government and all of its resources as it pursues this investigation and pursues justice in this case. certainly, we expect the mayor herself to relay some more details of that conversation, but we know that these two individuals have a very close relationship. the city of new orleans has worked hand in glove with the biden administration on various initiatives, from climate to the pandemic to infrastructure, with, of course, former new orleans mayor mitch landrieu having served as biden's infrastructure coordinator for several years. biden last made a trip to new orleans in august to highlight some $22 million in funding for tulane university, where his daughter ashley graduated from. so certainly this is a city that is very near

what do you do to harden the target and in the case of new orleans, especially the previous mayor landrieus been mired in scandal, spending money, going to climate change conferences in europe. you can't teach competence. ashley: you can't. even if you could i am not sure it would be well received. donald trump apparently will hold a victory rally at capitol one arena in washington the day before his inauguration. i think there is definitely a feeling of optimism with the new administration coming in and i have a feeling this victory party will show that. what say you? >> even though he's not talking about it, he doesn't talk about the wall although he is building it and doesn't talk the size of the crowd though it will be enormous. he wants both things done, he has learned from it, the more attention you bring the more time your enemies have to take something you want. that was 99% great, one% was ill advised, this will be perfect and give people one more chance to be on the same team. my hope is he will take the themes he's building in his inaugural speech and try it out in a micro versi

chris: thank you, governor landrieu. good morning. am fbi deputy assistant director christopher wray. from our counterterrorism division at headquarters. i'm also joined by assistant special agent in charge olivia duncan from our new orleans office, who you heard from yesterday. i am here to discuss not only the latest investigative information we have in new orleans. there are other investigate of activities outside of the state. first and most importantly, i want to send our deepest condolences to the victims of this horrific attack on their loved ones. 14 innocent victims were killed in this senseless attack and at least 35 were injured. we cannot ease the grief people across the nation are feeling at this time. we stand with you and in support of you. all the resources -- we are going to go into that a little bit later. all the resources of the fbi are being focused when tracking down every piece of evidence, every lead, every interview, every potential -- every potential lead we have got. while i won't be able to answer all your

>> well, look, back in 2017, former mayor mitch landrieu allocated $40 million, lisa french quarter andvy equipment to protect crowds against this kind of terrorist attack. the cantrell administration and the chief of police didn't realize any of that equipment existed until yesterday. >> when you go down bourbon, you will see yellow what we call archers, and they are along the sidewalk. and that would be to be preventative, if someone had or if this particular terrorist went around up on the sidewalk, that's what that would do. >> archer would have been -- >> -- actually, we have them. i didn't know about them but we have them. >> raymond: she didn't know about them, lisa. they were in storage. >> lisa: yes. >> raymond: it's unbelievable. >> lisa: she is the chief of police. i know heavy equipment. we couldn't get in to go to dinners new year's eve. the barricade blocking bourbon street was literally one car and a road block sign. that's hardly enough to prevent this kind of terrorism attack. this chief of police by the way is a dei instructor for the fbi and she/herself hit two pedest

. >>> joining me now his former new orleans mayor mitch landrieu. mayor, it's good to have you. obviously a horrible day for your fantastic city. a place that is used to having lots of crowds, used to dealing with a lot of security. how are things in new orleans at this hour? >> well it's obviously a very terrible day. i mean everybody's hearts were broken here. one of the things that we do really well in new orleans is welcome the whole world to have a joyful time, whether it's a holiday, whether it's the super bowl, the final four, you know the sugar bowl, mardi gras, jazz fest, essence festival, this is one of the things that we do. so our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victims. secondly, just thank you to the three police officers ran to the fire, obviously literally in the middle of gunfire, and took this terrorist out, and finally to the medical professionals who do this better, unfortunately, than anybody else in the country. so our hearts are broken but now is a moment where it's really important that there is clear command and control, clear coordination, cle

mitch landrieu, who i know you know, was on with my colleague anderson cooper last night from new orleanstalking a little bit about how he saw this as a vulnerability when he was charged with some of the decision making there. why do you think it was that it seemed to be left vulnerable here. and it is also my understanding and correct me if i'm wrong, but my understanding is it's typically open to traffic during the day. do you think changes should be made to further fortify it? and perhaps, you know, preserve it, keep traffic out of it in a way that would keep pedestrians more secure for the entirety of the day. >> it's difficult to keep traffic out of the quarter 24 hours a day, because businesses need to receive deliveries of products and goods. uh, trash needs to be picked up. there are many, many reasons that in fact, you can't remove vehicles from the quarter 24 over seven. but it is in order to reevaluate exactly how the security system around the french quarter works. but remember this, uh, the french quarter is just a part of, let's call it the downtown area, where visitors gath

and those of us who know new orleans know that that mayor landrieu several years back, the former mayor had looked at what was happening in europe, what had happened in berlin, what it what had happened in france and with with these terrorist attacks using vehicles and had put up sort of more security on bourbon street, which is really exists, you know, for the party atmosphere. it's a residential area. but for those of you, those who have not been there, it is it's sort of where everyone goes to walk on the streets. and and there was a lot of security. there is a question now about whether some of that security was, was undermined, or maybe minimized because of upgrades they were trying to do and whether replacements were not satisfactory enough for, uh, to stop something like this. >> yeah, it is always sad in the sense that when you look at hindsight, everyone realizes, okay, you know, perhaps there was something else we could have done. i do want to talk about what happened in las vegas, right? that cybertruck, the tesla truck in front of the trump hotel. what stands out to you abou

and paul, let me come to you, because we just talked a bit ago with governor landrieu about the issue of leadership and the signaling that happens. and you can see you can anticipate how perhaps the city is going to respond or not respond, or if leadership is weak or if people are going to be easily made even more afraid. so it comes down to the messaging of that, the presumption that cities or certain police departments or the fbi is not ready for this anymore, and that there isn't any leadership. you've been in new york during a number of issues. another episode, very similar to the west side highway incident in 2017, a truck mowing down dozens of people with an isis flag, a very similar footprint and messaging. what is your thought as we've now learned so much more through the day here today? >> well, one of the things we have to recognize is that at the end of the day, it very often comes down to the local police departments to secure events. while it's the remit of the federal government to collect information from the high side, classified side, push it down to those who need it

and just like the city of new orleans learned after that attack, you said the landrieu administration to even install the bollards at all. we're going to also look forward to see what we can do differently, and we're going to have the backing of state, local and federal partners to provide a greater presence here as we figure and uncover what's happening. but this attack was horrific. the people here are reeling from it, and we are primarily focused as local government, making them safe and making sure that our federal and state partners have every resource available to uncover what happened and get to the bottom of this. >> sure, you welcome people from all over, and as you mentioned, most of these victims are locals, and we certainly recognize the police officers who were injured as well. good to hear that. they're in stable condition, and we'll continue to monitor that as well. councilman morrell, thanks for being with us. we really appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> and stay with cnn for this breaking news. we are awaiting a press conference, an update on the attack in new orl

and this is what mayor landrieu said at a press conference this afternoon. and once they found out that they were not accomplices out here, because we had initially been told that they were looking for other people. once that was found out that they were not accomplices, this town lit up like a light bulb. and people are out here celebrating in this city. >> well that's good. they had a successful sugar bowl. notre dame prevailed. but ted, thank you for joining us on the ground there in new orleans. all right. joining us now from the west coast christina coleman is here with the latest puzzling new details out of las vegas. christina. >> hi, jason. authorities identified the suspect in this case as 37 year old matthew berger of colorado springs. they say he was a highly decorated army soldier, most recently a green beret who was on leave from germany. they believe he was the lone driver of the tesla cybertruck that you see here, exploding wednesday morning outside of the trump international hotel in las vegas. authorities believe berger shot himself in the h

hearing from president biden, all of our federal partners, but most importantly, calling governor landrieu this morning, i responded with haste. and we do say thank you. and, of course, a demonstration of a unified support is right here in this room. that's how we collectively responded to this tragedy in the city of new orleans. the mission now is to facilitate, support and coordinate safety procedures to keep our residents and our visitors safe. i have gone to the hospital, along with chief kirkpatrick, to visit our police officers and considering their injuries, they're doing well. as i mentioned, this investigation is ongoing and the fbi remains the lead in the investigation. it is an active crime scene as well. we are committed, no doubt, to uncovering all details surrounding this tragedy. and we are taking every necessary step to put even more safety procedures in place, especially given the nature of the investigation. i'm going to ask people to do not go around our secured area if there is no essential need to do so. it matters. and again, it is an active crime scene. i also want y

he has very close ties to the city of new orleans, his longtime infrastructure coordinator, mitch landrieuwas the mayor of the city. cedric richmond, also a longtime adviser to the president from new orleans, as well as his budget director. so he has very close ties, as do many white house officials, to the city of new orleans. but at this time, we know that biden has been briefed, will continue to be briefed throughout the day, and we are awaiting any news on any potential statement by the president or whether he will take questions on this. >> danny kayla tausche, thank you very much for that update. following president joe biden, i want to turn to andrew mccabe, who's been guiding us through this incident all morning. you know, andrew, one of the big questions that is still outstanding is we really did not learn anything about this suspect at the heart of this case. what do you make of that? what questions still need to be answered? >> yeah, danny, it's really kind of baffling. it's hard to imagine that they have someone in custody, because it seems like that would have been included in

>> well, look, back in 2017, former mayor mitch landrieu allocated $40 million for barriers, some of which you mentioned earlier around the french quarter and heavy equipment to protect crowds against just this kind of terrorist attack. but the cantrell administration and the chief of police apparently didn't realize that any of that equipment existed until yesterday. >> when you go down bourbon, you will see yellow, what we call archers. and there along the sidewalk. and that would be to be preventive if someone had or if this particular terrorist went around up on the sidewalk, that's what that would do. hello, archers. >> where do they come from? >> actually, we have them. i didn't know about them, but we have them. >> she didn't know. how can anyone feel safe in storage? >> yeah. it's unbelievable. she needs to resign. >> superintendent. she's the chief of police. i know. >> and the heavy equipment. okay, that should have been in place. and because they shut down the french quarter, we couldn't get in to go to dinner, for instance, on new year's eve. but the barricade blocking bo

we know the governor landrieu has been briefed. we know the white house. of course, president biden has been briefed. and now this is where this begins, right? just for context, again, for our viewers, we're talking about new orleans, the big easy crescent city. this is one of the hottest spots where you could be on new year's, right? this is a place that was preparing for joy this new year, especially as they have in about 11 hours from now, their sugar bowl happening. kick off. they have the sugar bowl parade they have been preparing for. and then of course, remember they have the super bowl coming up in a month. so this is a city. this is the most famous city in the entire state of louisiana, bourbon street, where revelers go. and that's what i've been seeing in those videos, people who were reveling, people who still had mardi gras beads on their necks. now they were laying trampled in the streeeet. we have more of those videos we are clearing in real time that we will bring to you and our viewers as soon as we do. holly. it is difficult to watch morga

governor landrieu there, the fbi, the atf, the mayor and others talking about the situation here in thered by isis. but they wanted to make clear that they do not suspect that anyone else was involved, and they do not believe that the public is in any danger at the moment. they also said at this time, there is no definitive link between the attack here in new orleans and that separate explosion that happened with the cybertruck outside of a trump hotel in las vegas. so, again, trying to clarify some of the things that have been reported over the last 24 hours. another key development as far as new orleans is concerned, is that they are hoping to reopen bourbon street later today before kickoff for the sugar bowl. and that is the intersection behind me here where the suspect actually went around. the patrol car, drove up on the sidewalk and carried out that killing spree. and already as we've been here during the briefing, we've been watching them clear that out and bring in new barricades, presumably for later today, to protect the public. let's go ahead and get back to our team here an

and those of us who know new orleans know that that mayor landrieu several years back, the former mayorad looked at what was happening in europe, what had happened in berlin, what it what had happened in france and with with these terrorist attacks using vehicles and had put up sort of more security on bourbon street, which is really exists, you know, for the party atmosphere. it's a residential area. but for those of those who have not been there, it is it's sort of where everyone goes to walk on the streets. and and there was a lot of security. there is a question now about whether some of that security was was undermined, or maybe minimized because of upgrades they were trying to do and whether replacements were not satisfactory enough for, uh, to stop something like this. >> yeah, it is always sad in the sense that when you look at hindsight, everyone realizes, okay, you know, perhaps there was something else we could have done. i do want to talk about what happened in las vegas, right? that cybertruck, the tesla truck in front of the trump hotel. what stands out to you about that?

obviously, the original system was installed by former mayor mitch landrieu after the attacks in franceo the crowd. they were literally created for this sort of instance. the council was not really made aware these balance lards would be backed up before the sugar bowl, which is a major event. the police car was on the corner and was similar to a ballard had it been present, but that being said, there's a lot of questions of, a, why weren't they repaired in time for the sugar bowl and, b, what additional infrastructure could have been or should have been behind that police car on the street? those ballards are placed every block, they come up throughout bourbon street. despite the fact the police car was there on the corner, there was no hardened infrastructure necessarily beyond that police car. those are challenges. i think the police did not believe someone would take the sidewalk. that being said, new york accounts for that. and that's something the city should have accounted for. there's a lot of unanswered questions. we're trying not to focus on the after-report at this moment bec