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Erin Burnett Outfront

Sources: New Orleans Attacker Used Rare Compound Not Seen In U.S.; New Video, Writings Released Of Suspect In Trump Hotel Blast; Trump Lashes Out, Judge Sets Hush Money Sentencing For January 10. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired January 03, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:40]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

The breaking news: The New Orleans attacker, using a rare compound in his explosive devices, so rare that it has never been seen before in the United States. Where did he get it?

And a wake-up call tonight. Those are the words of the suspect in the fiery explosion outside Trump international hotel in Las Vegas. Investigators tonight revealing more chilling messages that he left behind.

And more breaking news this hour. Trump ordered to appear before a judge to be sentenced on 34 felony charges, all just days before he is sworn in as president.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett on this Friday evening.

A lot of breaking news to get to this hour. I want to begin with new information on the explosive devices planted by the New Orleans attacker. Officials are telling our John Miller that the attacker who drove a car through that crowd in the early hours of New Year's day, murdering 14 people and injuring dozens more, used a rare organic compound not previously seen before in the United States, and officials are trying to determine exactly how the attacker may have obtained it.

These are crucial new details. We have more on this coming up here in just a moment, and it comes as we are having more information coming in on the man who blew himself up in a Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. Officials just releasing video of Matthew Livelsberger stopping at a charging station in route to Las Vegas. You can see him there walking towards the vehicle appears to get inside of it.

Now, officials say that his act in front of the Trump Hotel was a suicide. They say Livelsberger was suffering from PTSD and had trouble in his personal life.

We know Livelsberger was active duty. He served in the Special Forces. He served in Afghanistan. He was a highly decorated military member. Similarly, the New Year's Eve attacker in New Orleans, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, also served in Afghanistan, also decorated for his service.

His commander in Afghanistan tweeting today, quote, I am in utter disbelief. He was a great soldier, someone who showed discipline and dedication to think that the same individual who once embodied quiet professionalism could harbor so much hate, leading to such unspeakable atrocities is incomprehensible and heartbreaking.

But a newly uncovered audio file uploaded by Jabbar about -- about a year ago, offers a look into his religious beliefs. There, he says, quote, Satan's voice is also the misleading of people from Allah's way. They really go hand in hand.

And we see with this gradually drives a person to. It's a gentle, gradual luring into the things that God has made forbidden to us. The intoxicants, like marijuana, alcohol, sedatives, opioids, stimulants and others.

But despite the military and service similarities between the two attackers, officials say that the two incidents are not connected. But still tonight, law enforcement is on high alert as the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are warning of possible attacks.

We've got both stories covered tonight with Natasha Chen on the ground in Las Vegas and Omar Jimenez in New Orleans.

And, Omar, let's start there with you with this breaking details here that we are learning, what have you found out?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. So law enforcement officials are telling our John Miller that it was a rare organic compound not previously seen in the United States that was used in the explosive devices that were found in the French Quarter area at the after the attack that began at the intersection just behind me. And it comes as investigators are also learning more about the actions taken leading up to the time of the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Tonight, investigators saying they've determined that 42 year old Shamsud-Din Jabbar set fire to the Airbnb in New Orleans, where he was staying ahead of the attack. Authorities say he set a small fire in the hallway and strategically placed accelerants around the house as part of his effort to destroy evidence.

All of this, as federal authorities are now warning law enforcement across the country to be on the lookout for potential copycat attacks.

So you're the council member that represents the French Quarter. How would you assess the ability to prevent something like this before New Year's day in this area?

FREDDIE KING III, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCILMAN: Well, seeing how it hadn't happened before, I would assume that for us to figure that we had it pretty under control. But after the events on New Year's Day, we clearly have weak spots.

[19:05:04]

We clearly have vulnerabilities.

JIMENEZ: I saw some of those archers on the streets -- you know, those yellow ones on the sidewalks now? Why weren't those there before?

KING: That is a question for -- for our -- our law enforcement.

JIMENEZ: This is where that truck entered Bourbon Street in the early morning hours of the New Year. There was a police vehicle here, essentially stationed as a makeshift barrier as some of the city's previously installed barriers were under repair.

But even if a vehicle took up this entire street, you can see there still was a good amount of space to go around that onto the sidewalk, which, as we know from video, is essentially what happened.

Now you see some yellow temporary barriers on the sidewalk, but those were not there when this attack unfolded.

The city police department has made clear in recent days that barriers previously installed to try and prevent vehicles from coming down the street were under repair ahead of February's Super Bowl in the city, and many of the current measures in place are temporary.

But going back years to 2019, a private security firm warned the risk of terrorism, including by vehicular attacks, remained, quote, highly possible, and recommended the vertical safety structures that can move up and down, known as bollards, be fixed and improved immediately. That didn't happen.

KING: It's still a bit -- bit unclear as to what took so long. We are definitely going to look into this as a council to figure out who had the contracts. If they were tied up, tied up where? Why was this moving forward?

JIMENEZ: For some business owners who were open at the time of the attack?

CHARLES WEBER, CO-OWNER, THE ALIBI BAR AND GRILL: It was traumatic. You know, it wasn't just like a random shooting or something or whatever. This was like you were seeing it all down the street.

JIMENEZ: The extra barricades are a welcome sight for him.

WEBER: It's very nice to see 'em. And we know we have more to go. I'm happy to see them all. And I'm happy to see, you know, all the police officers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (on camera): And there is still a police presence at the entrance to bourbon street here. Now, obviously we have the Super Bowl coming up next month here. And I actually asked that city councilman if he was satisfied with the security assessment or the security efforts that they've seen so far. He says those sidewalk archer barriers are just the start of what he would like to see in the wider safety picture. But of course, as you heard, he did believe there were clearly some vulnerabilities. He does expect them to have more security in the lead up to that big event -- Erin.

BURNETT: Of course, we'll see. You know who is held responsible if anyone for -- for those failures. Thank you very much, Omar.

And I do want to go to Las Vegas now, where Natasha Chen is, and Natasha, because I know that you have just gotten some new information about information notes that the Cybertruck driver left behind. What have you found out?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Erin. In the last ten minutes or so, investigators here in Las Vegas sent the full transcript of a couple of letters they found that they believe were written by Matthew Livelsberger. This -- these writings are covering a range of grievances. They -- he talks about political grievances, cultural issues, for example, not being a fan of diversity initiatives, expressed support for President Trump and Elon Musk.

That's the first time we're seeing direct mention of the former president. He also talks about conflicts overseas. He talks about domestic issues, societal issues, and there is also a letter addressed to fellow service members.

During the press conference this afternoon, there were some portions of these letters read to the media by investigators in hopes that it offered a little more context as to what might have been his state of mind. Investigators, at the end of the day, say it's clear there were mental health issues going on here.

They are just scratching the surface of these devices that Livelsberger owned to look through the data, to look through what writings may have been on them. These are some writings that they found in the notes app on his phone. They did say that there was a journal of activity that he kept for about ten days leading up to the explosion that happened just behind us here in the valet drive through of the Trump hotel.

So bottom line is that this Livelsberger wrote in some of these notes that he felt this was a wake up call and that there were a lot of things bothering him, and clearly a lot for investigators to comb through as well. Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Natasha, thank you very much. An important new details there. You talk about the explicit support for -- for musk and Trump, even though he chose to do this outside the Trump hotel with the belief that he could have killed or injured many around him, there were people injured. Thank god no one was killed.

OUTFRONT now, Leon Panetta, former defense secretary, and of course, also former director of the CIA.

Director, I want to just start with you, if I may, with the we've got a lot of breaking details here, but with what John Miller is reporting on the New Orleans attacker, he is saying that the attacker used a rare compound, an organic one, that until now had never been seen as used in the United States, and that officials at this point are still trying to determine how the attacker may have obtained it.

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We don't yet have details on exactly what it is, what made it so rare. So I understand there's crucial pieces of this missing.

But we do know rare organic compound never before seen used in the U.S. What does that even say to you?

LEON PANETTA, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY & CIA DIRECTOR UNDER OBAMA: Well, it goes back to the -- to the fundamental finding here, which is that he was essentially a lone wolf terrorist who was inspired by ISIS. And what that means is that in many ways, even though there may have been nobody to connect with him directly, that being inspired by ISIS and following ISIS, and if ISIS was aware that there was this lone wolf that was operating in this country.

You know, I think there has to be a very careful investigation as to how a compound that resulted in or that could have resulted in additional explosions, how that found its way into his hands. I think -- I think it's a -- it is something we've got to pay attention to because I think this is a dangerous moment. If were facing other lone wolf terrorists in this country.

BURNETT: Incredibly dangerous. And, you know, you talk about ISIS, certainly he was inspired by ISIS at the least. But what I find interesting, director, is that ISIS has not yet claimed responsibility for the attack, which in some cases, when these horrific things happen, even if it's simply inspired by ISIS and not directed by or known by them in advance, they still celebrate it. They take credit for it, they acknowledge it.

They have not done so in this case. Why do you think that could be?

PANETTA: Well, I don't read a lot into that because I suspect that ISIS understands that they were the principal inspiration to this terrorist. And if -- if that's true, and if there are others like this individual who are being inspired by ISIS, they're not going to step out there and claim a lot of credit at this point in time. So I don't think we can read a lot into ISIS not claiming credit.

But the fact is they were there. Look, in the intelligence business, I have to tell you, the one thing we worried about the most were lone wolves. How do you track them down? How do you try to protect against this kind of random terrorist act?

It is very tough to do. And that's why when it happens, it's got to raise a lot of concern about whether or not intelligence and law enforcement are paying enough attention to the potential for other lone wolves.

BURNETT: I remember this conversation having it with you so many years ago when you said this was your largest, your -- your single biggest concern. Director, are you concerned that you have two individuals and obviously they are not related as far as we understand them in any way, but decorated military, one active duty, uh, does that. How much does that worry you?

PANETTA: Well, obviously, as a former secretary of defense, I don't like the idea that former soldiers who served well, uh, at least during the time they spent in the military, uh, that somehow there was something that happened that then turned them into terrorists. What that was we don't know.

Look, I don't think there's a direct connection here between military experience and suddenly becoming a terrorist. But I do think that what it means is we have to pay attention to people who have served, who have been in action, pay attention as to whether or not they are potential targets for ISIS to try to inspire them to conduct these kinds of attacks.

BURNETT: Before you go, Secretary, I want to ask you about President Carter, because you have had a long and storied career in public service, and you and Carter were voted into office at the same time. Your son, Congressman Jimmy Panetta, posted a photo of the three of you together.

What do you want everyone to know about Jimmy Carter ahead, of course, of his funeral proceedings beginning tomorrow morning?

PANETTA: Well, you know, I did run in the same year that Jimmy Carter ran. There was a lot of hope when he got elected because we were coming out of Vietnam and Watergate, and, you know, he obviously had a mixed record as president, but I think it was Walter Mondale when he was asked about the legacy of the Carter administration, said something like, we told the truth, we followed the law and we preserve the peace.

[19:15:11]

I think that's probably a pretty good legacy for any president.

BURNETT: Certainly, certainly is. Thank you very much. I appreciate your time, Director.

PANETTA: Thank you.

BURNETT: And next, the trucks in both the Las Vegas and New Orleans incidents were rented using the app Turo, with the car rental company is learning about both drivers. The CEO of Turo is going to join me right after this.

And we have more breaking news coming in. Trump now slamming the judge in the hush money case who has just scheduled sentencing for Trump's 34 convictions just ten days before inauguration.

And also tonight, the U.S. surgeon general warning that alcohol is linked to at least seven types of cancer, as Americans increasingly believe alcohol is worse for their health than marijuana. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:20:08]

BURNETT: Tonight, growing questions for the car rental service used by both the Las Vegas and New Orleans suspects. Both men rented the cars that they used in their attacks on Turo, a platform that allows car owners to directly rent their cars to other people, described as more of an Airbnb model for cars. So the difference between Airbnb and a hotel, same as the difference here between Turo and more traditional car rental companies.

OUTFRONT now, Andre Haddad, who is the CEO of Turo.

And, Andre, I really appreciate your time. I know this is a shocking moment for you. Can I -- just, I guess, get to the heart of this? I know you have already been spending a lot of time going into your records. Both of these men, all the information you obtained from them, any -- any contact points between Turo and either of these individuals.

What have you found so far, and have you found any similarities between the two men?

ANDRE HADDAD, CEO OF TURO: It's been a shocking last 48 hours. I agree with you. We've been all hands on deck partnering with law enforcement. First of all, thinking about all the victims and then conducting and supporting the investigation of law enforcement.

So here's what we've found out so far. We don't see any evidence, internally into the Turo systems that these two individuals were connected in any way, first of all. And then secondly, what we've observed is both of these two individuals had perfect criminal background, no red flags. They had a valid U.S. driver's license, as you were noting in previous segment, they were decorated members of the U.S. military.

So we were absolutely shocked by the discovery that these two individuals who could have, you know, checked in on any hotel, boarded any flight, you know, rented a car anywhere else, frankly, without triggering any red flags, happened to be simultaneously on Turo.

BURNETT: And, you know, actually, just to point out that the New Orleans attacker was also staying at an Airbnb, as we just talk about the business models, right. And what makes them, in a sense, different, right? A car rental company like Hertz or, you know, you, you, you go to a counter or you interact with a person. Obviously, you do this through an app from the buyer or from the renter and the person who owns the car, you know, directly, right?

So there's no -- there's no counter, there's no human interaction required. But renters do need a driver's license. That's got to be validated for the app. As you point out, 18 years old, to rent through your site.

But then and this is what I wanted to ask you about, Andre. Your company says that it uses. And I want to quote proprietary, multi- layered, data science based trust and safety process. And that's the end of the quote.

But that's how you screen the renters. And then you apply what is a quality, quote/unquote, risk score to every booking. Can you fill in the blanks a little bit on that, or maybe put it a little bit in English? What is that trust and safety process? And were there risk scores essentially perfect.

HADDAD: Yes. We you know, we have been pioneering a data science and data based approach to risk management and trust and safety. And I think we've been able to deliver really a strong track record in terms of trust and safety on the platform. You know, we've not new. Unfortunately, some people are hearing about us for the first time in these tragic conditions, but we've been around for over 12 years of operating history. We've facilitated over 90 million booked days, 27 million trips. We have millions of customers, hundreds of thousands of hosts.

So we've become a big part of the rental car market here in the U.S. and in the other markets where we operate. And only 0.1 percent of these trips have resulted into what we would call a serious incident, such as a vehicle theft, for example. So we're, you know, we think that it's a solid track record that we've developed over the years.

And we believe that that's because we focused on investing both in technology. You mentioned the Turo risk score. I'll tell you a bit more about it.

And also people, we have a substantially large trust and safety organization. We have teams of former law enforcement officials that are part of it.

And then when it comes to the technology we have used throughout the every renter that comes into the app and creates their account and books with us for the first time, we gather over 50 data points from both the renter themselves. The vehicle characteristics, the trip characteristics over 50 factors that go into calculating that Turo risk score.

And, you know, and predictably, the steward risk score was pretty strong positive for both of these two transactions. And you know, when we looked at their backgrounds, they had no red flags. You know, they had valid licenses. They had shared with us a photo, a real photo

when we looked at their backgrounds, they had no red flags. You know, they had valid licenses. They had shared with us a photo, a real photo of themselves holding their drivers license. Everything looked like it was perfectly smooth, and there were no red flags associated with it.

BURNETT: And do you feel confident that they would have had no problem running? I mean, anywhere else? Avis, Hertz or, you know, a more traditional company? I mean, and I guess, I mean, I -- I know the answer to that will be that you're going to say yes, but let's see.

But also that is it just do you think that they -- because they didn't have to have a face to face interaction with anybody who was, was a formal employee of the company or in any way official that they would have chosen Turo?

HADDAD: I don't -- I don't think that that really what matters here. You know, listen, the traditional rental car, you know, industry has been unfortunately, you know, associated with a lot of, you know, terrorist acts over the last 20 years and as going as far back as the, you know, the 1993 World Trade Center attacks, if you recall, those were trucks that were rented, you know, through a retail chain.

So I don't think the fact that you're going through a retail chain is going to substantially reduce the risks. On the contrary, I think we are you know, were very positive about the track record that we've built over the years.

So in this case, I think they could have, you know, boarded any flight. They would have checked in into any hotel, rented a car at a traditional place. They had perfectly valid driver's licenses and had no red flags in their criminal background. So pretty much impossible to detect.

BURNETT: Yeah, well, that's sort of the lone -- the lone wolf fears of the former director of the CIA.

HADDAD: And as you know, they were -- yeah, exactly. They were they were decorated U.S. soldiers. It's unbelievable.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Andre, I appreciate your time. And thank you very much.

HADDAD: Thank you.

BURNETT: Andre Haddad, as I said, CEO of Turo.

And next, the breaking news, Trump lashing out tonight as a New York judge is announcing that he will be sentenced in the hush money case and that that is going to happen just days before inauguration.

And tonight, an incredible story of survival, a husband and wife out celebrating their wedding anniversary in New Orleans. They only go out once a year. Anniversary on New Year's Eve, and they came under attack. But they are here to share their story, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:31:16]

BURNETT: Breaking news Donald Trump lashing out against the New York judge in the hush money case after the judge announced Trump will be sentenced on January 10th, just days before Trumps inauguration. The judge just completely rejecting Trump's attempts to dismiss the verdict where a jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts.

Now, it's an extraordinary development to think that we are in this moment. And what it means, of course, is that Trump will be the first convicted felon to serve as president of the United States, and now a sentencing in the offing, it appears.

Paula Reid is OUTFRONT.

And, Paula, so what more can you tell us about the judge's ruling?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, Erin, when we were covering this trial about a year ago, this is not how I would have expected this all to play out. But once Trump was -- was reelected, this seemed like the natural progression of things. As you noted, he continues to be a convicted felon, but here the judge signaling that he is not going to face any penalties.

And that's notable because, as the judge says, he could have imposed a jail sentence here. But in his opinion today, Judge Juan Merchan saying, quote, it seems proper at this juncture to make known the courts inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration.

So really, this sentencing next Friday, it will be largely performative. Another thing I thought was really interesting in here is that Merchan really, really seems to concede the point that Trump's lawyers have been making about the fact that he is president-elect and how that should impact this case.

He says, quote, to assuage the defendants concerns regarding the mental and physical demands during the transition period. They're going to let him appear virtually. Now, throughout the course of this case, Judge Juan Merchan has not been terribly sympathetic to a lot of the arguments related to status as a former president or president- elect that Trumps lawyers have made. So the fact that he is conceding this point, that's really significant.

And, of course, Trump's lawyers, they wanted the whole case thrown out. That was what they were trying to do here. They were not successful, but they can continue their appeals on the conviction itself.

But in a statement today, Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, he didn't appear to be very happy with this outcome, saying, quote, there should be no sentencing and President Trump will continue fighting against these hoaxes until they are all dead.

Of course, the hoaxes being the four criminal cases, only one of which went to trial. He was convicted, but it appears, won't face any penalties and told the Trump team, Erin, they're still weighing if they want to fight the sentencing next Friday or just get it over with and put it behind them.

BURNETT: All right, Paula, thank you very much.

So on the back of Paula's reporting, let's go to Ryan Goodman.

And, Ryan, just to answer the question that Paul is raising here, right? His team determined that they have to make a decision, right? Do they fight it? Do they go for an appeal and kind of blow this up, potentially drag it out even longer, or just let it happen and move on? So what happens here? I mean, can Trump still appeal?

RYAN GOODMAN, JUST SECURITY CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: He certainly can try. And even the attempt to appeal could string out the time so that the clock runs until January 20th. But at that point, the courts could still then hear his appeal and then send it right back to Judge Merchan. So in some sense, he's buying time. For what purpose? Maybe just get it over with, get Friday past him rather than that same hearing appearing sometime during his presidency.

BURNETT: Yeah. So the incoming White House communications director tonight, she was saying Juan Merchan decision is a, quote, direct violation of the immunity ruling of the Supreme Court. Is that true?

GOODMAN: That's not true. So the Supreme Courts immunity ruling was about whether a former president is permanently immune from criminal liability for some of their acts while in office, like firing an attorney general. That's what the Supreme Court ruled.

Today's ruling is about whether a sitting president is temporarily immune for four years from any kind of criminal sentencing, criminal prosecution. And that's what Judge Merchan was ruling on. There is no Supreme Court case on that.

And what President Trump's defense team was trying to do is saying that same principle, though of immunity temporary, should also apply to a president-elect.

[19:35:08]

And Judge Merchan declined to go that way. And it was a perfectly good argument on their part, but it's nothing to do with the Supreme Court.

BURNETT: So Paula was talking about how Merchan -- Judge Merchan is making it clear that that -- that he's not looking to impose jail time or that wouldn't be the recommended sentence. But just to be clear, the reporting had been well before Trump even won the White House, that that was likely to be the case, right? So that's not this seismic shift. If he was going to be sentenced to prison and now he isn't, unclear what would have happened, but the reporting had been that that wasn't the direction it was going.

So it just begs the question, Ryan, that if Judge Merchan is going ahead with the sentencing, why do you think he's doing it if he doesn't intend to send him to prison? Or it may, from what Paul is saying, may not intend to punish him in any way at all.

GOODMAN: So I think it actually will be not to punish him in any way at all. Not only no incarceration, but Judge Merchan refers to part of the New York state code that also means no fine, which that's also remarkable. Like a person is convicted of 34 felonies and there's not even a fine.

I think that what Judge Merchan is trying to convey and trying to do is preserve the sanctity of the jury verdict. So by then saying, I'm going to sentence you, but with no real, you know, fine or imprisonment, at least the conviction is final. I think that's what he's attempting to do. And then it insulates it to some degree from appeal.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Ryan, and explaining all of that.

Former Congressman Mondaire Jones is with me here OUTFRONT, along with Scott Jennings.

And appreciate both of you.

So, Scott, what do you think of that ten days sentencing before the inauguration, but as the judge is making it pretty clear, it's a sentencing that isn't a sentencing -- you know, I mean, there's no fine, no nothing, 34 convictions and yet most likely to be no actual punishment for it.

So should Trump do anything about it?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, I guess he could show up and continue to show what this case was all about in the first place. And that is it was for a political talking point. This case should have never been brought. It was brought -- brought by a partisan prosecutor.

If Donald Trump weren't Donald Trump and he weren't running for president, this case would never have been charged with felonies this way. This complete and total sham. It's a kangaroo court.

Of course, he's not going to be punished for it, because the only reason they ever did it was so they could try to call him a convicted felon during the election, which they, of course, did. And then the American people soundly rejected this naked partisan politics.

If you're watching New York City news right now, you've got people being burned on the subway, folks running around with all kinds of violence in their past and not in jail. And the criminal justice system is being used on Donald Trump.

Take a hard look at who you're electing. It's Alvin Bragg and this judge. These are the kinds of people and their priorities are totally misplaced.

BURNETT: All right. Mondaire, I know you would agree with very little, if anything, of what he just said, but on the on the fundamental point of where -- I don't want to relitigate why the case was brought or any of that, but Trump did fight to stop this moment from happening. And yet here we are, and it is likely to happen. We'll see what happens over the next few days if he tries to fight the actual sentencing itself, you know?

But it is going ahead with sentencing. So in that sense, he lost. But if it's a sentence that isn't a sentence, is he ultimately the winner?

MONDAIRE JONES (D), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Well, you might say Donald Trump ran to return to the White House for the purpose of obtaining this very result. He wanted to avoid prosecution. He certainly wanted to avoid time in prison. And that is exactly what he's getting in this case. Obviously, there are dozens of other outstanding felony counts or were anyway against him before many of them were voluntarily dismissed --

BURNETT: Yeah.

JONES: -- you know, because of his imminent return to the White House, based on this Department of Justice memorandum, which has never really been tested.

BUNETT: Yeah.

JONES: Saying that you can't prosecute a sitting president and obviously a sitting president by extension, cannot serve in prison because it would take away from his ability to execute his duties under the Constitution. That's fine.

It's really a sad moment for this country that the first convicted felon will be serving in the White House, and to be very clear, just to respond to something that Scott said earlier, you know, if he weren't Donald Trump, he would be sentenced in 10 days to time in prison.

You know, he has been treated quite generously within our criminal legal system. He has gotten so many -- so many things extended to him because of his status as a former president and frankly, as a very powerful individual.

BURNETT: So, all right, Scott, and that and that is an interesting point as well.

But, Scott, can I ask you also, Trump used some political capital this week. He used political capital on Mike Johnson. And, you know, Mike Johnson was you know, I don't know what kind of shenanigans and insanity is going on in the Republican Party in the House, but nonetheless, Johnson almost goes down.

Trump comes and says, come on, I support him in dramatic fashion.

[19:40:02]

And it almost fails. And then they get behind him in the final moments. Okay, Johnson wins. He is speaker.

He's now overseeing the narrowest house majority in nearly 100 years. With these couple of renegades who, you know, seem like they're going to, you know, raise their tails every five seconds, to try to cause problems again.

So is Johnson going to be able to maintain this? Is he not long in the world of speaker?

JENNINGS: Well, I think he'll be the speaker. I don't think they're going to be able to get rid of Mike Johnson because he has Donald Trump's backing. It's why he won the speakership today. He did a good job.

You know, he unexpectedly got this job. He did well with it under very difficult circumstances. Trump trusts him. That's why he got reelected speaker today because of his own good work and because of his alliance with Trump.

But that doesn't change the math. It's a closely divided chamber. And you do have a situation now where virtually any 1 or 2 members of Congress or 3 or 4, you know, a small group can really upend the chamber at any time. And there's going to be some people who want to do that for different reasons, mostly for their own self- aggrandizement.

I assume that's what almost happened today, but I think a good outcome occurred. First ballot, Trump wanted Johnson. Trump got his man.

Johnson deserves it. He's a good dude. He's going to be a good speaker. And the Republicans need to learn a lesson. Unity is the only way to do anything here, because any little fracture in the whole thing goes off the rails.

BURNETT: And yet, Mondaire, having been in Congress, any little fracture, there's a fracture on everything. They all say, oh, they're all in. And then one cat goes wandering off and you've got this whole problem again. I mean, every single thing that should be simple is not simple for House GOP.

JONES: Look, I have plenty of disagreements with Speaker Mike Johnson, but the fact is, chaos does not serve the American people. We should all want, you know, a functioning Congress. And I'm not surprised by today's result because, as I have said previously on this network, you can certainly expect chaos and dysfunction to persist in the 119th Congress, as it did in the 118th Congress.

But what will be fundamentally different is that Donald Trump will be president of the United States, and he will be imposing some degree of discipline on the members of his party, especially where their chaos and dysfunction impacts him. You have to have a speaker of the House before you certify the presidential election. He's not playing around when it comes to that.

BURNETT: Right. And that, of course --

JONES: -- him call people -- you saw that he called people directly to those two holdouts today. Yeah.

BURNETT: Amazing that it got to that moment considering what's at stake.

All right. Both, thanks very much.

And next, cheating death. I'm going to speak to a couple who were in the New Orleans attackers path as he barreled down Bourbon Street. The husband was hit, but they're alive to share their story tonight.

And are Americans turning on alcohol? The surgeon general warning that alcohol is linked to at least seven types of cancer and 1 in 6 breast cancer cases.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:46:41]

BURNETT: Tonight, more clues uncovered from the New Orleans attackers home. The FBI and local police seizing chemicals typically used to make explosives. It comes as were hearing tonight from people who barely cheated death as that white pickup truck plowed into the crowd.

Among them are Jessica and Jacob Wilson, who went to the French Quarter to celebrate their anniversary. And they're OUTFRONT now.

And, Jessica, look, you and Jason go to the French Quarter to celebrate your anniversary. I know this was a rare outing for just the two of you. You're -- you're home with your kids. That's how you value your time, and just one night, you're going out for your anniversary.

Twenty minutes before the attack, you've shared some pictures that you took. That's the two of you celebrating, your happy on New Year's Eve. And then as you were walking around right before the attack, the area was obviously very busy. This is some of the video that you just shared with us, Jessica.

So then tell me -- just minutes after you took this video, Jessica, what happened?

JESSICA WILSON, SURVIVED NEW ORLEANS TERROR ATTACK: Well, we decided to try to make our way home, and I said, let's go to one more spot and walk around one more time and well never, you know, we won't get to come back for another year.

And we were walking down the middle of the street. We were happy. Everybody was happy. The streets were starting to kind of clear out some. And we said, lets get on the sidewalk.

Something was telling us to move to the sidewalk. And we moved to the sidewalk, and it was like slow motion, like a dream. Like a slow dream. That happened.

Someone yelled. I was in a daze. I didn't know what was going on. My husband took action. He -- his adrenaline got going. He pumped. He jumped pretty much almost tackled me out of the way, jumped and pushed me to the curb where his foot was struck.

And then he was laying on the ground. I was standing over him. He was screaming my foot. The truck hit my foot. My truck hit the. The truck hit my foot.

We thought that possibly just someone was, um, drunk or something had happened and they crashed next to us. We had no idea what was about to happen. I was concerned for him. I was trying to help him off the ground. And then rapid gunfire started.

BURNETT: I mean, it just. Jacob -- yeah, in that moment, Jacob, when you're hit by the truck, did you even realize what happened? And, you know, as Jessica is talking about, at the time, it seemed maybe somebody was drunk or had lost control of the car.

What went through your head at that moment? Did you realize that it was something different?

JACOB WILSON, SURVIVED NEW ORLEANS TERROR ATTACK: Yes, ma'am. I -- I didn't think it was a drunk driver because we were halfway down Bourbon Street. I mean, we weren't at the beginning, you know, of Bourbon Street. And then as soon as they went by us, there was, it was a loud explosion from the crash.

And I looked back and the officers were already surrounded him, and they already had their guns drawn. So, you know, you could just tell this wasn't a normal thing.

I mean, then he -- he got out and he fired several shots off before they were able to get him. And we were actually right there on the sidewalk while the shots were being fired. We couldn't get to cover.

[19:50:02]

I tried to get on top of her and push her out of the way, and we made our way into the nearest entrance we could find. We had to barricade our way in there. They were trying to barricade the doors. We had to push our way in there, and then they barricaded them.

After we got in there, and I don't know what goes through your mind in that. You know, there's not a lot -- you don't have a lot of time to think. You just have to react in that moment. You just have to do the best you can. I guess. Yes, ma'am.

BURNETT: You did manage to take some pictures of the of the of the aftermath, I guess is the best way to describe it, because you ended up, I know, having to stay.

You know, the police kept you there so that that once in a sense, it was over. I'm sure you were desperate to get home to your children, but you had to stay. They insisted that you stay.

And when they finally let you leave, you know, you shared some of these photos with us. What you saw, Jacob and Jessica, was truly disturbing.

JESSICA WILSON: Yes, ma'am. So I took the pictures and the videos, watching the police start the crime scene, and then my husband said, we have to get out of here. We have to get home. We got to get back to our children.

The police wouldn't let us leave. They said that it was an active crime scene. They did not want anyone leaving. We were to stay there. They people would be arrested if they tried to leave.

BURNETT: Jacob, we know that the city of New Orleans has warned for years that the French Quarter was vulnerable to these attacks. Then there was a report back in 2019, a private security firm had said, look, raised an alarm, right, that there were not sufficient barriers around Bourbon Street. We know the Department of Homeland Security then put out a bulletin warning of vehicle attacks. Just in the past two weeks.

And yet that night when you were on the street, the barriers were not up. Do you think someone should be held responsible for this failure?

JACOB WILSON: Yes, ma'am. I mean, we believe so because we didn't even -- they didn't even issue, you know, any kind of warnings to the pedestrians. Nobody, nobody was really paying attention, you know, to it.

So everybody felt safe at that time. But now, looking back, I wish I wish somebody could have let us know that it wasn't, you know, secure. So we could have taken precaution. We could have walked on the sidewalk the whole night.

I mean, we were we were in the roadway the whole night, pretty much walking back and forth. And we just happened to be the lucky ones that started to make their way to the sidewalk as it came through. We just we happened to be one, lucky.

BURNETT: You were lucky. And your children are lucky and, you know, thank -- thank -- thank goodness for all of you that you are together.

Thank you so much, Jacob and Jessica.

JESSICA WILSON: Thank you.

JACOB WILSON: Thank you.

BURNETT: And next tonight, the surgeon general issuing that new and dire warning about alcohol and links to cancer. But Americans are already turning to another substance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:57:12]

BURNETT: Tonight, alcohol and cancer. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says alcoholic drinks are linked to at least seven types of cancer and that 1 in 6 cases of breast cancer are connected to alcohol consumption.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: The majority of Americans do not know about this link between alcohol and cancer. Even drinking within the current guideline limits one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men, we see an increased risk of cancer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: It all comes as Americans, especially young adults, are increasingly giving up alcohol. But there's a twist to that.

So, Harry Enten is here with me.

So, Harry, what's interesting is the timing of this warning coming from the surgeon general, is actually hitting at a good time to getting through to people because of changes in consumption trends.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yeah. You know, the kids are all right. You know, if we look at the trend over just the last six years in terms of the percentage of Americans who believe that alcohol, even in moderation, is bad for your health, you look at those under the age of 35. My goodness gracious, look at this goes from 34 percent in 2018 to 65 percent, nearly doubling in just six years among those under the age of 35.

Among those --

BURNETT: Epic.

ENTEN: It's epic.

BURNETT: That's an epic.

ENTEN: It's epic. It's huge. If you look at those age 35 and older, yes, you're seeing a climb, but it's not to the same degree.

So the bottom line is here Americans, more Americans are believing alcohol, even in moderation, is bad for you. And that is being driven primarily by those under the age of 35.

BURNETT: Okay, which then brings me to the question of, you know, its not as if they're just sitting around doing nothing and, you know, they're doing something else. And, you know, the kind of cross between alcohol and marijuana. What does that look like?

ENTEN: Yeah, this is so interesting. You know, when I was a kid, I don't know if you remember the show "Saved by the Bell", but they said there's no hope in dope. Well, if you look right now at the trend line, which is more dangerous for you, alcohol or marijuana. And you look at the trend line here, it's unbelievable in terms of this, look at this, which is more dangerous to use.

Back in '74, they were basically equal, right. Look at where we are in 2022. Whoa. Look at that. The marijuana dropped from 29 to 7 percent. The alcohol rose from 31 percent to 54 percent. So in '74 basically a split. And now in 2022, far more Americans believe that alcohol is worse for you than marijuana.

Of course, I'm not sure that doctors would necessarily agree, but I'm just reporting poll results here, right?

BURNETT: Right. This is just what people perceive, which in this case, perception matters a lot. And in fact, because of the legalization, all of what's been going on with marijuana -- I mean, this has been a multiyear process.

You had already started to see a real shift, just even in terms of sales and revenues for alcohol companies, right?

ENTEN: Yeah. This, to me is perhaps the most fascinating trend line. I remember my father used to drink O'Doul's nonalcoholic beer.

And the reason why --

BURNETT: It's disgusting.

ENTEN: It was disgusting. He just liked the taste. My father was a very interesting sort of gentleman.

But if you look at sales of nonalcoholic beer, wine and spirits, look at that jump by nearly 200 million from 2022 to 2023, and then by a nearly another 200 million from 2023 to 2024. I'm not going to be surprised if nonalcoholic beer, wine and spirits sales top $1 billion yearly quite soon. It's quite the trend line.

BURNETT: It is. And that's the same epic thing that you're seeing in terms of perception. It is really amazing to see something like that happen in that kind of an industry.

ENTEN: It's just we're living in interesting times.

BURNETT: We are.

Well, Harry, thank you and thanks to all of you.

"AC360" starts now.