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FBI Searching Locations In Several States Linked To New Orleans Attacker; Authorities Investigating Possible Links Between New Orleans Attack and Las Vegas Cybertruck Explosion; Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) On Johnson's Fight To Retain Gavel Ahead Of Friday Vote. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired January 02, 2025 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[07:30:05]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Happening now, authorities in Houston are searching a Houston location with potential ties to the man who killed 15 people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

In just a few hours the FBI will provide an unclassified briefing to House and Senate oversight committees. The FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terror.

This is what witnesses saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY COTHRAN, WITNESS TO NEW ORLEANS ATTACK: It was just an unimaginable casualty. I mean, just the disfigurement and the bodies strewn. It's something you can't unsee and you'll never forget. Just the fact that these people are somebody's people and they're not going to be there this morning. It's rough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. Let's get right to Houston where these searches are underway. CNN senior national correspondent Ed Lavandera is there. And what is the latest from the ground?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well John, investigators here in the Houston area, which involves the Harris County Sheriff's Department as well as obviously FBI investigators, who have been here in this neighborhood on the northern side of Houston where as you can see behind me the police lights. And the authorities have had this area cordoned off since yesterday afternoon.

We understand it wasn't until late last night that FBI investigators got the sign-off on the search warrants to go inside the home.

The suspect in this New Orleans attack is believed to have -- his last known address is believed to be just beyond those police lights you see behind me, and that's why investigators have been here. They've been very tightlipped as to exactly what they've been doing

and what they have found at this point. But it wasn't until late last night, as I mentioned, that we understand that they began the search process of the residence here. The FBI say that this search is connected to that investigation in New Orleans.

But we've learned a lot about this suspect here in the last 24 hours in various court documents that describe a man who was facing financial troubles in court documents related to a child support case that was filed by the mother of two of his children. The suspect talked about being in debt -- credit card debt and businesses that were losing money as well.

And in a YouTube video he talked about how he was born and raised in the city of Beaumont just east of the Houston area and right on the Louisiana border.

But several neighbors I spoke to yesterday who live in the area just around where this suspect lived say they didn't have much interaction with him. Just the typical hi and bye that you would -- you might say to a neighbor you didn't know particularly well.

But investigators here are continuing. We hope to learn some more here throughout the day as to exactly what was found. What exactly might have been found inside these premises as this search of this area has gone into the overnight hours this morning -- John.

BERMAN: That's just one of the locations being searched this morning.

Great to have you there, Ed Lavandera. Thank you very much -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. President Joe Biden offered his condolences to the families of those killed in the horrific New Orleans attack, saying the nation grieves with them and stands with the city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: While this person committed a terrible assault on a city the spirit of our New Orleans will never, never, never be defeated. It always will shine for us. We've seen that time and time again throughout its history and I know we'll see it again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: He also spoke about the investigation saying federal agencies are investigating any links between the deadly attack in New Orleans and what you're seeing there -- that Tesla on fire after a deadly explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas yesterday.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is joining us now from the White House. What are you learning from the president and his team this morning?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, President Biden described the violence in New Orleans as a despicable attack as he and federal investigators are working to learn more about what led to this incident and also whether the suspect had any accomplices.

Now, President Biden spoke last night from Camp David after receiving briefings from his Homeland Security team throughout the day. He shared with the public some of the known details about the suspect. He was an American citizen and a former member of the military who President Biden said had posted videos online indicating that he was inspired by ISIS.

Here is how President Biden described the ongoing investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: The law enforcement and intelligence community are continuing to look for any connections, associations, or co-conspirators. We have nothing additional to report at this time. The investigation is continuing to be active, and no one should jump to conclusions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: In addition to the attack in New Orleans the president said his team and investigators are looking into the explosion of that Cybertruck out of -- outside of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. The president said investigators are really trying to key in on whether there are any possible connections between the two incidents though as of last night Biden did not have any further information to report on that front.

[07:35:05]

Now, each of these investigations remain incredibly fluid. We will see whether President Biden shares any other details or updates when he returns here to the White House a bit later this morning.

But even as these investigations are unfolding there are still so many families dealing with the very difficult task of mourning in the aftermath of this attack in New Orleans. President Biden said that the hearts of the nation remain with those who are grieving -- Sara.

SIDNER: They certainly do.

Arlette Saenz, thank you so much for your reporting this morning -- John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning security officials in New Orleans are preparing for today's Sugar Bowl, the College Football playoff between Georgia and Notre Dame. It was postponed yesterday following the terror attack.

Let's get right to CNN sports anchor Andy Scholes with the details on these preparations, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, John. So you know there's going to be thousands of Georgia and Notre Dame fans just walking through the French Quarter down Poydras Street to get to the Superdome for today's game. And instead of that normal energy for the Sugar Bowl, fans are certainly going to feel a little uneasy after what happened.

Now, the superintendent of New Orleans police says they're doing everything they can to make it safe there. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE KIRKPATRICK, SUPERINTENDENT, NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT: We have put officers out there as a grid, walking down the streets -- every street in the French Quarter looking for suspicious packages, bags, ice chests, you name it. And they have been walking it as a grid. We've been doing the same thing on Poydras and all the accesses into the Superdome.

Part of the safety plan is we have bomb dogs out there sweeping the Superdome and all the exterior area, and we're locking that down. That will be locked down through the game tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now, Georgia's football team did hold a walkthrough at the Superdome last night while Notre Dame held meetings at their hotel.

And Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman -- he spoke with ESPN about what he told his team after the terror attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCUS FREEDOM, HEAD COACH, NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL: In the toughest moments the culture of any program of a nation is revealed. And I have a lot of faith this country will rally around New Orleans and support all of the victims and families that were affected today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now, kickoff for the Sugar Bowl is at 4:00 p.m. Eastern today. The winner moves on to face Penn State in the Orange Bowl one week from today.

Now, moving a game of this magnitude with so many fans traveling in for it -- I mean, John, that's so tough to do. But Delta and Southwest Airlines -- they both issued travel advisories for New Orleans allowing people to rebook their flights for free.

BERMAN: It makes sense. Some 80,000 people in the stands there.

SCHOLES: Yeah.

BERMAN: All right, Andy Scholes. Thank you very much. I know you'll keep us posted -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Joining me now to discuss is Seth Krummrich. He is the vice president of Client Risk Management at Global Guardian and Global Securities Services firm. Thank you so much for being with us this morning, Seth.

FBI officials are saying they do not believe the terror suspect acted alone. When you hear that could that be there are more co-conspirators or could that simply be that they were helped by ISIS operatives, potentially online, with the planning, or all of the above?

SETH KRUMMRICH, VICE PRESIDENT, CLIENT RISK MANAGEMENT, GLOBAL GUARDIAN: GLOBAL SECURITY SERVICES (via Webex by Cisco): It's a great question, Sara.

When you look at the complexity of this attack it had been well planned ahead of time. So you, at a minimum, likely have a logistics component of people that helped the terrorist pull this attack off. So it's a combination of reconnaissance, building IEDs -- all the things that we're hearing about and reporting now.

So more will come out of the investigation of was this an inspired attack or was this a direct support attack, but there's likely more people that are involved.

SIDNER: I do want to talk to you about the videos that have surfaced of the New Orleans suspect speaking positively about his skills and a post-military career in real estate. We know he was born and raised in Texas. That he was having some financial issues.

Does it surprise you that someone like this could be radicalized?

KRUMMRICH: I think that when you find someone who is disassociated, that is separated from society, they become vulnerable, and that's exactly what ISIS is looking for. We've been looking at ISIS now for well over a decade and this is what they look for. They hunt for this and then they try to take advantage of people that can be operationalized. And I think we're seeing a version of that with this event.

SIDNER: We also have some new details from those videos with him talking about killing his family and being inspired by ISIS.

When you look at some of what we are now seeing do you expect that the FBI and others will find that there were signs leading up to this? There were red flags that were perhaps missed.

[07:40:05]

KRUMMRICH: There could be. You know, I don't want to speculate on that aspect of it. I think we are going to get the excruciating details of this tragedy laid out to us and we're going to see, of course, a backbone of someone who is extremely troubled and somebody that was obviously operationalized by an enemy agent and then put into play.

So when I look at the situation now there's the investigative side and then there is the what are we going to do to make sure that the Sugar Bowl is ready, the Super Bowl is ready, and frankly, all the parades for Mardi Gras are also protected and ready. So there is a lot of complexity that's going on now in New Orleans, but I have a lot of faith that those leaders are going to be able to handle what's coming next. SIDNER: Let me ask you about what that security should look like and really, what people should expect when they go to the Super Bowl, if they're going to the Sugar Bowl, or any other big event, frankly, in other cities in the next coming days.

What are the things that should be in place, and what should fans expect as they're going there? Because I suspect things will be a big different when it comes to the amount of law enforcement and the amount of security.

KRUMMRICH: Absolutely. I think you will see law enforcement project out what timelines look like. I think fans or those that are attending largescale events need to pay attention to what recommended timelines are.

There will be increased security. You know, security is not just the agents walking or the police officers walking up and down the streets. That's just part of it.

There will be online threat management. There will be cameras with AI that are looking for threats that are out there. You'll see all sorts of different intelligence and communications going on. So there will be robust security -- layered security protecting these events.

So if you're attending one just make sure you get there early. Make sure you've got those clear bags and you're following all the protocols that are recommended to you.

SIDNER: Yeah, it's really good advice.

I don't want to lastly ask you about this alleged Vegas driver and the New Orleans suspect both had military backgrounds we're learning. Both used electric vehicles. Both rented on the owner rental website Turo. Explosive devices in both, although the suspect in New Orleans was not able to detonate them before police took him out.

But there are also some differences between these two attacks.

What does this tell you? Does it look likely that these two attacks may well be connected?

KRUMMRICH: I would not want to speculate on that.

But I will say for the military writ large, especially the Army, because it looks like both had an Army background, there's 1.3 million members of the Army today, active reserve and National Guard. Having these two one-offs I wouldn't correlate necessarily back to being a -- you know, related to the military in particular. I do believe though when you get a profile of them, you're going to find alienated, disassociated people.

And this really comes back to the community responsibility that we all have. See something, say something. Reach out to other members of your family, your friend network. If you used to be in the military stay in touch with those ex-members of your previous units. And just check in on folks. There's a human nature aspect to this that we want to reinforce to make sure that we -- if there is somebody that's struggling with this or making a decision on this maybe we can pull them back to the correct side of the threshold where they need to be.

SIDNER: That's an interesting point.

Thank you so much, Seth Krummrich. Appreciate you coming on this morning.

And ahead, breaking overnight at least 10 people are injured, some as young as 16 years old, after multiple gunmen opened fire outside a New York nightclub. What police are saying about the attack in Queens.

And is Donald Trump's endorsement not enough? House Speaker Mike Johnson's battle to keep the gavel and his looming Friday deadline to win over some Republicans.

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[07:48:35]

SIDNER: The 119th Congress begins tomorrow, and when it comes to the House Speaker vote, Mike Johnson has virtually no margin for error to retain the gavel. This week's endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump may tamp down skepticism of some on the right. Still, Johnson cannot afford to lose even one Republican vote.

Joining me now, Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts.

I want to ask you something. We have just gotten this in from Johnson who was speaking about what happened in New Orleans with that horrific attack that left at least 15 people dead. And here is what he has said, and he's putting some of the blame here on the Biden administration.

And I'm going to quote here. He says, "We all know for the last four years the Biden administration has been completely derelict in its duty. The congressional Republicans, we hear, in the House and the Senate have repeatedly asked the DHS under the Biden administration about the correlation -- the obvious concerns about terrorism in the wide-open border. The idea that dangerous people were coming here in droves and setting up potential terror cells in the country. We have been ringing the alarm."

So putting what happened in New Orleans on the shoulders of the Biden administration.

Now, we do know that the alleged terrorist in this attack was born and raised in Texas, but the FBI says potentially, he was radicalized by ISIS.

[07:50:05]

What do you make of what Johnson has said this morning? REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA) (via Webex by Cisco): Good morning, Sara. Thanks for having me on.

Speaker Johnson shouldn't be politicizing this tragedy. And as you said, this terrorist was born and raised in Texas, a state of the United States last time I checked.

And I can turn around and politicize this the other direction. I could point out that Donald Trump said that the United States should not have a presence in Syria despite Syria being the most likely harbor and hotbed of ISIS terrorism. And he is the one who doesn't want U.S. troops killing ISIS terrorists in Syria so they don't come to the United States and try to kill Americans here.

But now is not the time for that kind of rhetoric. Now is the time to come together as a nation, Republicans and Democrats, and grieve with and pray with those residents of New Orleans who are suffering from this heinous attack.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you because obviously, Speaker Johnson is in a very precarious position where you've had several Republicans come out and say that they won't likely vote for him for speaker. And when you look at what happened with Democrats and the fact that Democrats did lose the Senate and House, is there any chance the Democrats would try and help Johnson -- vote for Johnson if he, indeed, is in trouble with Republicans?

AUCHINCLOSS: No. Democrats are going to vote for Hakeem Jeffries because Hakeem Jeffries is the one who represents our values and our priorities to lower costs for Americans, to uphold the rule of law.

Now, if past is prolog, we know that regardless of who gets the gavel -- Mike Johnson or otherwise -- he is going to need Democratic votes though to legislate. He is going to need Democratic votes to be able to enact the reforms that he is promising. That was true last Congress and that was true the Congress before, in fact.

Things like Ukraine and Israel aid. Things like gun safety legislation. Things like aid to Israel. These are all things that required bipartisan votes.

And Mike Johnson is going to have to sit down and recognize that he broke trust with Democrats when he reneged upon the bipartisan funding deal we had a couple of weeks ago. And if he wants to rebuild that trust he should start by putting bipartisan bills on the floor. Bipartisan bills to expand affordable housing tax credits or take on the health insurance lobby to lower drug prices, or to enact common- sense border security legislation that already passed with Democratic votes.

We have the bills ready to go; he just needs to have the political courage to execute them.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about that because you have some Republicans -- the reason why they're upset with Johnson is because he reached across the aisle to Democrats on government spending and foreign aid in that first bipartisan bill.

If cooperation is frowned upon do Democrats have any shot of getting anything on their agenda through the Republican-led Congress?

AUCHINCLOSS: Well, that's what's up to Mike Johnson. And this is really the conundrum that faces political leaders at one point or another in their careers is do I do what's right for the country or do I do what's right for my own political career? And the history books are filled with people who answered the question the right way and the wrong way.

And Mike Johnson, at times in the last term I will say, answered it the right way begrudgingly. He put that Ukraine-Israel bill on the floor. He lifted -- or excuse me, he funded the government. Lifted the debt default limit. So there have been sparks of country before party, and he's going to have to do that again.

The challenge that he has though, Sara, is that he destroyed his trust with Democrats in the last several weeks because Donald Trump said jump and he said how high? And he tore up a terrific bill that had been painstakingly negotiated that was going to save taxpayers $5 billion and lower their prescription drug copays. He threw that out the window on behalf of Donald Trump.

SIDNER: I do want to lastly ask you, Congressman, about something that you have officially called for, which is telling your Democratic peers to block the nomination of Robert Kennedy Jr. for the Secretary of Health and Human Services. There are several other controversial nominees.

What made you single out Kennedy?

AUCHINCLOSS: The damage he can do to children's health. You're right that there are other unfit nominees -- Hegseth, Gabbard, Patel. I'm worried that they could be a heat shield for RFK. That all the focus is on them and that he sneaks through potentially even with bipartisan votes in the Senate. Any Democrat voting for RFK is undermining this party's longstanding commitment to science and to children's health.

This is a man who doesn't think that any vaccine is safe and effective despite the fact that vaccines have saved 146 million lives in the last 50 years. He doesn't think AIDS is caused by a virus. Has copped to sexual assault against the family babysitter claiming he's not a church boy.

Not somebody that we want leading our health system in the United States. Not someone fit for that job. And just because he says the right things about ultra-processed food or healthy school lunches doesn't mean we also have to accept his conspiracizing and quackery about core elements of public health. You can get the good without the bad.

[07:55:00]

SIDNER: We will see what happens with that nomination as the vote comes in. Congressman Jake Auchincloss, thank you so much for joining us on this second day of January -- appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, New York City police are searching for multiple suspects after at least 10 people, including minors, were injured in a shooting outside a nightclub in Queens. Police say four men attacked the group who were waiting in line for a private event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF OF PATROL PHILLIP RIVERA, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: Three to four males then opened fire over 30 times in the direction of the group standing outside the event space, striking multiple victims. The males fled on foot westbound on 91st Street towards 143rd Place where they entered a light-colored sedan with out-of-state plates.

The public has been very instrumental in the recent weeks to help us capture dangerous individuals like these four men. We ask the public if you see something, say something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The victims were taken to an area hospital and are expected to recover.

President Biden will give Presidential Citizens Medals to 20 Americans today. This is one of the country's highest civilian honors. Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney and Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson are among the recipients. They were the chair and vice-chair of the January 6 Committee. Other honorees include Mary Bonauto, a leader in the effort to legalize same-sex marriage. And being honored posthumously two civil rights advocates who sued the end -- to end the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

New this morning police in South Korea carried out search and seizure operations at three locations as part of the investigation into the air crash that killed 179 people there. Police searched the Muan International Airport and the office of the airline, as well as an aviation office.

Police told CNN a search warrant was issued on charges of professional negligence resulting in death and injury. The searches come as the Transport Ministry says it has finished analyzing data from the cockpit voice recording as they attempt to determine why the jet crashed.

The New York Times is now facing a lawsuit for its reporting on the dispute between actors Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively as they made the film "It Ends With Us."

Let's get right to CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister for the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Actor Justin Baldoni, who also directed the hit movie "It Ends With Us," is now suing The New York Times for $250 million, launching a counterattack in an escalating controversy with his co-star Blake Lively.

Clip from Sony Pictures "It End With Us."

WAGMEISTER (voiceover): Baldoni and his team saying the newspaper was party to a "vicious smear campaign" by Lively who filed an earlier complaint accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment on set and retaliation during the promotion of the film.

It's just the latest salvo in an ongoing dispute between the two actors that erupted during production of the movie in which Baldoni plays Lively's on-screen abusive husband.

The complaint filed by Baldoni and a total of 10 plaintiffs, including his producing partners and publicist, states the Times "relied almost entirely on Lively's unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence..."

Lively's original complaint was filed with the California Civil Rights Department almost two weeks ago and was first obtained by The New York Times. It alleges Baldoni and his team tried to destroy Lively's reputation after she raised concerns about "repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior by Mr. Baldoni."

The Times published their article December 21 highlighting excerpts from the civil rights complaint, including text messages from a crisis P.R. manager for Baldoni that say, "...we can bury anyone."

The New York Times telling CNN they will "vigorously defend against the lawsuit," saying "Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails."

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Then vetting the allegations and reviewing the material that's where they ended up. But I think it's going to take a little while to determine and see exactly where all this falls because there's a lot of conflicting claims. But that's what litigation is for.

WAGMEISTER (voiceover): Baldoni's complaint alleges the paper omitted text messages to serve Lively's narrative, saying, "The article's central thesis, encapsulated in a defamatory headline designed to immediately mislead the reader." The complaint says, "It was Lively, not plaintiffs, who engaged in a calculated smear campaign." Further saying, "Lively used sexual harassment allegations to assert unilateral control over every aspect of the production and that Lively's public image suffered as a result of a series of high-profile blunders."