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Witnesses Recount New Orleans Attack; FBI Searches Locations in Several States; New Orleans Attacker Had ISIS Flag; Johnson's Speakership Battle; Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) is Interviewed about Johnson. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired January 02, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Upon the nature of her story and the manner in which she believes things unfolded. And, of course, the lawsuit that she has leveled against him, of course, and Mr. Heath, who is his co-producer and director, and others, alleging sexual harassment, retaliation, et cetera.. So, like anything else, once all the facts are vetted, interviews are made of various witnesses, other text messages and everything else, and viewed in context. We'll see what really was the truth here, what party suffered damages and how strong the claims are in a court of law.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: It all has to be fact based. We've got to see the receipts, right, Joey Jackson?

JACKSON: Always.

SIDNER: That is always what you tell us. I really appreciate you coming on.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, the FBI in New Orleans says bluntly they do not think the New Year's attacker acted alone. Security increasing around that city as they prepare for today's Sugar Bowl. It was postponed because of the terror attack.

And this morning, law enforcement trying to determine if this attack is tied to the explosion of a cyber truck outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas. There are important similarities, but also some key differences.

Kate is out today. I'm John Berman, with Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SIDNER: This morning, new developments in the deadly New Orleans terror attack that killed at least 15 people and injured dozens more just hours into the New Year. This hour, officials have said they do not believe the attacker acted alone, as investigators try to determine if he was inspired by ISIS or directed by ISIS.

Also right now, the nation on edge as investigators look into whether this attack is linked to a cyber truck explosion in Las Vegas. All this as more witnesses are now describing the horror they saw on Bourbon Street.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNICA, WITNESSED NEW ORLEANS ATTACK: I didn't realize in the moment that I saw a wheelchair that was sitting there. You know, at first I thought, like, is that a motorcycle? Like, what - like, my eyes had to strain to understand what I was seeing. And then to see the man from the wheelchair laying in the gutter was heart wrenching, you know? And there's nothing that we can do to help. It's - we don't help the situation by entering into it. So, all we could do was stand by and watch and to see immediately dead bodies laying in the street, both directions, is something that nobody should have to see in the beginning of the new year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Annica and her husband Paul saw all that, as did so many others.

Ryan Young is live in New Orleans with more on this story.

Ryan, you've been talking to city officials and you have been talking to witnesses. What are you learning this morning?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and I've also talked to the chief this morning who told me she was on her way to an FBI briefing. So, hopefully we'll get some more information a little later on this morning.

But you can understand how people are sort of walking around in a daze. A lot of people trying to figure out exactly what's next. The local paper pretty much making this pretty clear, "act of terrorism." We know that that's how people feel here. They feel like this city was attacked and they want to show that they're going to be resilient. They want to move on. But, at the same time, they want to think about the victims.

Down the way here we've actually seen National Guard members helping to flank the police and state troopers who are down the way here as they clean the street and they also started to tow out vehicles and clean all the evidence from that Bourbon Street and from Canal Street after this devastating attack with 15 people who are dead.

Now, of course, we want to show you this video of that truck taking that turn down the road here. Of course, there was a car that was trying to block it. But that truck, that F-150 Lightning, got on the sidewalk and just created carnage. So many people trying to figure out exactly why.

We know the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas, an Army veteran, had an (INAUDIBLE) on the way here, talking about that allegiance to ISIS. But you really want to think about the victims, people who have had their lives stolen from them.

Take a listen to this family talk about the devastation they witnessed. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN CHAVE, WITNESSED ATTACK: It's just devastating because - and it's very scary. And how it could have been me and my mother - me and my mom.

It was just horrible. It was - it was very graphic. We heard everything that came outside. And once we heard it, it - it was from there, like, tragedy. And it was just - the night was very silent after that.

RUTH CHAVE, WITNESSED ATTACK: They - they saved our life. By us walking into that bar, it saved our lives because we would have been in the direct path of that driver.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yes.

We also know 35 were injured. But the names that we know so far, Tiger Bech, 27, Reggie Hunter, 37, and Kareem Bawadi.

[09:05:06]

And you got to also think about the two officers who were shot when they were having to exchange gunfire with the suspect who had that long rifle.

So much information is still being sifted through. We know the FBI didn't clear the scene until after 2:30 last night. So, hopefully we'll get more information as the morning continues. But this has been devastating for this entire area.

Sara.

SIDNER: Ryan Young, thank you to you and your crew for being there and giving us the very latest on all of this. It is a devastating situation there for sure.

John.

BERMAN: And very shortly the FBI will provide a briefing to the House and Senate Oversight Committees with the latest information on that attack.

This morning, authorities continue to search multiple locations with potential connections to the attacker, including a home in Houston.

Let's get right to CNN's senior national correspondent, Ed Lavandera, who is there with the latest on these searches.

Good morning. Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Well, FBI investigators and other authorities have been here on the northern side of Houston, searching a property just beyond those police cars you see behind me at this intersection.

We just heard moments ago from the FBI office here in Houston saying that about ten minutes ago they wrapped up the search of the property that they have been doing here since yesterday afternoon. It wasn't until late last night that they got the court order to be able to go inside the premises. So, overnight, investigators here in Houston have been searching the home believed to be connected to the suspect in the New Orleans attack. So, they have spent here hours and hours going through that. We have no information beyond that as to exactly what has been found here. The FBI statement this morning does say that there is no threat to the residents and the neighbors who live around the property that they have been searching.

But this is an area where this has become a great deal of focus on the background of this suspect. In a YouTube video that the suspect posted back in 2020, he talked about being born and raised here in Texas, in the city of Beaumont, which is just in southeast Texas, along the Texas and Louisiana border.

And also in court documents and public records that we have been able to comb through in the last 24 hours, we've learned a lot about essentially the life of financial struggles that this suspect had gone through. There is a - he was sued by the mother of two of his children for child support. And in those documents he talked about being in heavy debt, credit card debt, as well as businesses that had lost nearly $30,000 as well. So, financial struggles as he worked in - in IT and real estate here in the Houston area. So, starting to piece together some of the struggles that this man was going through here before carrying out this attack in New Orleans.

John.

BERMAN: All right, the news that search and the residents behind you has now wrapped up. Ed Lavandera, thank you so much for that information. Appreciate it.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, joining me now to discuss, a retired FBI special agent, Bobby Chacon, and former NYPD detective, Tom Verni.

Thank you both for being here this morning. I know this is a tough, tough assignment.

I want to start with you, Bobby. What is the difference between ISIS inspired or ISIS directed? What does that mean for the public?

BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, in simple terms, it means that ISIS inspired means he didn't have much contact with ISIS itself. He read their material online. He radicalized - he self- radicalized by viewing their videos. ISIS is famous for making videos which are designed to get people to come over to their side if they're leaning in that way.

And ISIS assisted, obviously, would be if they gave any assistance. If they - even if they gave him instructions on how to do something, you know, that would be, you know, part of the criminal act. So, that's the two things. Whether he had any kind of contact with someone and, you know, even on the dark web from ISIS, that would be them involved, and inspired means he just, you know, consumed their videos and their material online and radicalized that way. That's - that's the basic difference.

SIDNER: So, took it upon himself to do something as opposed to, like, being directed in the planning and how to do everything directly by someone in ISIS.

CHACON: Exactly.

SIDNER: OK.

All right. And - and now to you, Tom. The metal street barricades that were normally in place on Bourbon Street were - were not working according to - to law enforcement. And so, you can see what law enforcement used instead. They used their own vehicles to - to block the street. But the terror suspect drove around the vehicles and up onto the sidewalk to kill people. Was there anything else that could have been done here?

TOM VERNI, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: Hey, good morning. And my condolences to - to those who have - families who have had to deal with this horrible tragedy.

And, I mean, yes, I think they're going to have to review what security measures they had in place for that evening.

[09:10:02]

It's - at that time of the morning, just like we would do in New Years Eve in Times Square. You know, once the ball has dropped and we get into, you know, 1:00, 2:00 in the morning, you start to pare down - generally you start to pare down the size of the detail of - of officers that are assigned to provide security for that event and any other security measures that have been put in place, right, as the crowd starts to dissipate and/or they're located and sort of one place or another, then you sort of move your resources to, you know, to kind of fortify those specific areas, such as here on Bourbon Street, which normally is a pretty busy street to begin with.

SIDNER: Right.

VERNI: You know, no one needs a real excuse to party on Bourbon Street.

But, you know, the problem - yes, they're going to have to review why, you know, how long have those bollards been inactive, or not operational? You know, and what - what - you know, it seems - it sounds like, based on prior reporting, that it's taken some time to either repair or replace those bollards, those security bollards, which basically rise up from the ground and prevent an act like this from occurring.

Now, the police vehicle being there is what's known as a blocker car, right? So, the blocker car would be there to block the street. But to have now this gap there, they're going to have to, you know, figure out like why was there a gap. Could they have put something else there? Maybe a temporary cement barrier perhaps that would just block off the sidewalk area itself, which is what we would do in New York.

So, all these procedures are going to have to be reviewed as to what was done and what wasn't done and - in preparation for future events, such as the one later on today.

SIDNER: Yes, I think the barriers, according to the police, were being replaced, as the Super Bowl is going to be played there in New Orleans. And obviously, you have the Sugar Bowl that's going to be happening today.

VERNI: Yes.

SIDNER: So, the security is going to - to have a lot to do when you have these huge crowds coming in again.

Now to you, Bobby. When it comes to the - this act, the FBI saying they do not believe that the suspect acted alone. What will they have to do now to try and figure out if there are indeed anyone - is there anyone else or, you know, what that means? Whether or not that just means that ISIS - it was sort of ISIS involved but not necessarily any other suspects. What are they going to be doing today to try to figure all of that out?

CHACON: Yes, well, they - they must have something - in my mind, they must have something to make that statement because it's an unusual statement. I mean normally they say the person acted alone.

SIDNER: Right.

CHACON: Now, they say they believe he acted in concert with others, which means they must have something to go on. Now, the only thing we, as the public so far know about that is that there were other IEDs, other explosive devices planted around the French Quarter. So, who planted those? Did this guy plant them himself before going back to the vehicle and planning - and executing this attack? Or did someone else, working with him, plant them around the French Quarter?

Now, they'll be probably viewing a lot of videotape and trying to see who - and yesterday we had some erroneous reporting in the beginning that there were three men and a woman that were seen maybe planting those. They're trying to determine who planted those devices, because that's the connection to other people, I think. And the only thing they made public that could be a connection to other people right now. They may have more that they haven't released. But right now, the only thing we know about that could have been connected to other people are those other devices planted around. So, they're trying to determine - they're probably viewing videotape at the same time the FBI SOMEX, which is the Social Media Exploitation team, is looking at his online life and seeing if he connected with anybody.

This kind of thing has to have planning. And planning is usually not in person anymore because people are so spread out. So, if he communicated with others who planted those other devices, there must be some communication somewhere between him and those other people. So, they're looking into all those avenues of possible communication that he had with other people.

SIDNER: Yes, and this is, you know, before, as I mentioned, the Super Bowl is going to be played there and you've got the Sugar Bowl today. So, heightened security in every single measure that we can imagine.

Bobby Chacon and Tom Verni, we'll have to leave it there. Thank you both so much for coming on, on this second day, gentlemen.

CHACON: Thank you, Sara. Great to see you again.

SIDNER: Good to see you too.

All right, House Speaker Mike Johnson gearing up for a fight again to keep his gavel tomorrow. Does he have enough support to stay speaker?

And brace yourself for some bitterly cold weather. We're tracking the arctic plunge on the way for millions of people.

And Meghan Markle celebrating the new year with a return to social media.

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[09:19:22]

SIDNER: A new year and a new Congress but the same old fight. The 119th Congress takes shape tomorrow. And the biggest question remains, can House Speaker Mike Johnson keep his job? Friday's vote is shaping up to be a close one, even with an endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Yes, it's a - it's a numbers game. We have the smallest margin in U.S. history. We'll have a margin of probably two votes tomorrow during that. So, can only afford to lose one or two. But I think we'll get it done. I really do, Lawrence. I've talked to every single one of those friends and colleagues over the holidays. We'll be talking about process reforms inside the House. And I've encouraged all of them. And I think the reason they're all going to vote yes is this, we're shifting into a brand new paradigm.

[09:20:03]

We have unified government that begins tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN anchor and chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju is in Washington. He says everybody is unified. It's all kumbaya. What are you hearing?

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, the math is really the challenge here for Speaker Johnson. He's right. This is a razor thin majority in the House. And he's already lost one Republican vote. But we expect tomorrow's majority, given Matt Gaetz is not expected at the moment to return to his seat, that's going to be a 219 to 215 majority, meaning he could lose one, Mike Johnson can. If he loses two Republicans, that could be problematic, could undercut his chances to win on that first ballot.

Now, there are different machinations. Some members decide - may decide to not show up or vote present, not vote for a specific candidate, and that could lower the voting threshold, the majority that is needed to be elected speaker. But he very much has no margin for error.

Now, right before the Christmas recess, I caught up with one of his main detractors. Really the one Republican outspoken opponent of Mike Johnson's, Thomas Massie, who indicated he won't change his mind. And just a couple of days ago, Congressman Chip Roy also indicated that he did not believe Johnson, at the moment, had the votes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: You told me earlier this week that you - that Speaker Johnson does not have your vote on January 3rd. Is that still the case?

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): Even more so. He doesn't have my vote.

RAJU: There's no way you're voting for him?

MASSIE: I don't - I don't plan to enter it as a negotiation. I plan to just not vote for him.

RAJU: OK.

MASSIE: Not - I have no asks. There's nothing I want in exchange for my vote.

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): I remain undecided, as do a number of my colleagues, because we saw so many of the failures last year that we are concerned about that might limit or inhibit our ability to advance the president's agenda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And Roy went on to say that he did not believe that Johnson, at the moment, had the votes.

Now, Johnson has been working the phones. He's been reaching out to several of those members talking about things that he could do to make - to ease their concerns. But as we know, if any one of these members can extract some concessions from Mike Johnson, they most certainly will. The question, ultimately, Sara, will be whether they will do that privately or whether they will actually go to the floor and vote for another candidate, making his path to the speakership that much more complicated, which will make tomorrow a bit of a high drama situation on the House floor. Can Mike Johnson get the votes with the narrowest of majorities in the House tomorrow, or will this go to multiple ballots that we saw with Kevin McCarthy, had to go to 15 ballots and - the last time there was a speakers race. And, of course, ultimately he was ousted from the speakership and then leading to Mike Johnson ascending to that post.

So, so many questions here for Johnson but his team feels confident, but can they get there. That is still another question, Sara.

SIDNER: High drama in the House. Breaking news, I think not.

Manu Raju, for us in Washington, thank you so much.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now is Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican from New York.

Representative, thank you so much for being with us.

It's 9:22 a.m. on Thursday morning. Does Mike Johnson have the votes right now to be the next speaker of the House?

REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-NY): I don't know if he has the votes right now, but I do believe that he will have the votes. And I'm not sure that it will be on the first round, but I do think by tomorrow we will have a speaker, and that speaker will be Mike Johnson. I know that he's been working the phones. I spoke with him last Friday. We had a very good conversation. He's willing to take our suggestions and ideas and try to incorporate them into running the house better and making sure that this is a member-driven process, that we're not seeing deals being made and then coming to the conference expecting a rubber stamp.

I think also making sure that he helps us score legislative wins throughout the year for our constituents is also something that he's - he's heard and is willing to implement some changes there so it's more member driven. I believe he will have the votes tomorrow by the end of the day.

BERMAN: And you're a definite yes?

MALLIOTAKIS: I am voting yes. Yes. I don't - I don't see a value in a - in a fight of - for the speakership at this time. I mean it - we saw what happened two years ago and it was an embarrassment for our party and for the institution I believe. I don't agree with everything that Mike Johnson has done, but I think that he is the best person to move us forward, united. And I think he's the only one, quite frankly, that could probably get to the 218, which is needed for the gavel.

And I do agree with him that the dynamics have shifted. He - he had no choice but to negotiate with Democrats when it came to the debt limit, when it came to a continuing resolution to keep our government funded and running. Now, we hope that he'll work within our conference and let's negotiate within our own membership first before we turn over to the Democrats for votes.

But I do still think it's going to need to be a bipartisan Congress.

[09:25:02]

If you look at the Senate, they have 53 votes. You still need seven Democrats to pass most pieces of legislation outside of reconciliation. And so the members who are holdouts, they're not - they're not being reasonable when they think that we can govern without some type of negotiation, without some type of bipartisanship. And that's part of the problem. They want everything. They want all or nothing. And they're willing to risk our majority and the Congress over it. And I think that's the wrong approach. Every relationship, every government, every business requires some type of negotiation. And that's where they need to be reasonable.

BERMAN: And to be clear, you're talking about members of your own party, your own caucus, in the House, correct?

MALLIOTAKIS: That's right. I think that there's members in my own party, unfortunately, that want everything. It's their way or the highway. And there's little regard for many of the other members that we represent a very diverse group across the country, right? We have people across the political spectrum, moderates to far right conservatives. And I'll say that we need to do what we believe is the best thing for our constituents. And at the end of the day, we're willing to negotiate, certainly, on how that's accomplished. And overall, let's be - let's be honest, 80 - 80 -- 80, 90 percent of the time we agree. We agree on the big picture issues, needing to secure the border, needing to ramp up domestic energy production, needing to get the economy back on track, extending President Trump's tax cuts. We agree on all that.

The question is in the details. How do we - how do we get the consensus to pass these legislation - pieces of legislation forward? And that requires negotiation.

BERMAN: Yes.

MALLIOTAKIS: And like I said, not just within our conference, but eventually with the Democrats, too, because you need those votes in the Senate.

BERMAN: You said one thing in passing. I don't want to let it just slip by. You said you think that Mike Johnson may be the only one who can piece together the votes needed to become the speaker of the House. You can't squint and think of any other member, any other Republican member who could maybe win?

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, there could be other members. But, you know, then - then I think you - you - you risk the ability of them being able to - to do the job.

I think with Mike Johnson, the issue was that he was the first person that emerged after we went through multiple candidates who had not offended anyone. Everyone actually likes the guy. He's a nice guy. He's a good person. Family person. Has very good values. Respects our Constitution. And so, no one had an issue with him. Everyone else, everybody seemed to have an issue with. And if you elect somebody, for example, from the freedom caucus, then

you - the moderates are upset. If you elect someone who's too moderate, then the far right conservatives are too upset. So, Mike Johnson was the first person, after multiple candidates, that has actually able to unite everyone. And I think we should not, you know, try to fix what's not broken. Let's just give him constructive criticism. Let's give him our ideas on how we can do things better. I certainly have. And he's willing to implement these things for the betterment of the whole Congress. It's when you're looking for these personal things, you know, you're looking for a chairmanship or you're looking to try to leverage him for your own personal gain that it's not in the best interest of the institution or the country.

BERMAN: All right, Representative Nicole Malliotakis, from Staten Island, it's great to see you. Get some sleep tonight. I think you might be in for a long day tomorrow.

MALLIOTAKIS: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, fireworks, gas tanks, camping fuel in the back of a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in a blast outside a Trump hotel. Now, the FBI investigating whether it was an act of terrorism and possibly connected to New Orleans.

And then 40 years after getting her tonsils removed, one woman had the shock of a lifetime when she discovered they'd grown back. Is this really a thing?

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