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Inside Politics

10 Killed, 35 Injured as Truck Slams Into Crowd in New Orleans; FBI Investigating the Attack as an Act of Terrorism, Suspect Dead; Sugar Bowl Taking Place Blocks From Site of New Orleans Attack. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired January 01, 2025 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

CHARLES RAMSEY, FORMER D.C. POLICE CHIEF & PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER: -- could have been concrete barriers, but concrete barriers are difficult to move. And there are legitimate reasons why a vehicle would go down that street. You've got bars, you've got restaurants, you've got delivery trucks. But if you've got a vehicle there that's actually, you know, with personnel in it, they can move out of the way and let authorized vehicles in, and then close it off again.

I don't know if that was in place at midnight for an example, when you had the larger crowd versus three o'clock in the morning. I also don't know their personnel strength. Their -- many departments in this country are understaffed, so I would imagine many of the officers that were used last night had to be double back and be there for the Sugar Bowl tonight, and so you would leave them at some point in time, so they can get some rest and then be deployed again the next day.

I don't know the answer to that. I would certainly understand if that was the case. There was still a lot of police officers on the ground. The question is whether or not there was adequate steps taken to avoid having a vehicle be able to enter Bourbon Street from any place.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT AND CO-ANCHOR OF 'INSIDE POLITICS': Yeah. Certainly one of the questions that'll be -- need to be answered in the hours ahead. Chief Charles Ramsey, thanks so much.

And still to come, we are live in New Orleans with the latest on the deadly New Year's morning truck attack that left 10 dead and at least 35 injured.

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[12:35:20]

MATTINGLY: And we are back with the breaking news in New Orleans, 10 people are dead, at least 35 injured after a pickup truck plowed through a New Year's crowd on Bourbon Street. We want to get straight to CNN's Omar Jimenez live in New Orleans right now. Omar, quick turnaround for you. I think you were in the neighboring state, Mississippi, last night. What are you seeing now that you're on the ground there?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so here in New Orleans, we are just outside the French Quarter here. So just over my shoulder here, you see this line of state troopers and then about a block from where we're standing, they've of course got all this area blocked off. That is where officials have been investigating the scene. That is likely the focal point of where all of this happened.

We, of course, haven't been able to get over there to sort of cross verify with some of the videos that we've been seeing. But over the course of this, we have seen coroner's vans come in and out over the course of even just the few minutes that we've been here. We've seen investigators, of course, go in and out of this caution tape. So still a very, very active scene. But then of course, as this is happening, we still have a lot of people.

This is obviously a very big tourist area as well, lot going on in the area. So people are still going about their days, trying to stop and see what's going on here as well. All of this, as we're starting to learn more about who this person, who this suspect may have been, or any potential motivations. For example, law enforcement sources are now telling CNN, as they tell our reporters, Priscilla Alvarez, Evan Perez, and Holmes Lybrand, that an ISIS flag was found with this vehicle.

And then on top of that, those sources also tell CNN that there were explosives, potential explosives found in a chest as well with this vehicle on top of that. So, all pieces in this investigation that are moving forward into how, not just how this happened, but also why, what potential motivation would there have been to plow into a crowd like this in the early hours of 2025, here in New Orleans as people were likely celebrating the entry to a new year, this attack unfolded, person drove into this crowd according to law enforcement. 10 people killed, over 30 injured.

And just from the videos that we've seen from the scene itself, just unbelievably harrowing as people in some cases clearly trying a process in real time what they were seeing, potentially, of their loved ones in, again, the opening moments of 2025. We've heard some information from law enforcement so far. For example, they do say, the FBI says, they are investigating this as an act of terrorism. There is still a lot to learn though, of course, in regards to the nature of how this unfolded and again, potential motivations leading up to this.

We do expect to hear from law enforcement a little bit later this afternoon, potentially with more details as well. But again, as I mentioned, this is -- for those that have been to New Orleans, they know Bourbon Street. This is one of the busiest, if not the busiest parts of the city, especially on a night like New Year's Eve where people come, they celebrate. Not to mention you've got a big football game going on in town tonight between University of Georgia and Notre Dame, so a lot of people in town for that.

And even as I'm talking, you can't see it because it's off camera, to this point, but the crowds have just stopped. They have their cameras out, they're filming. They're also watching to see what is going on here, again, as people wonder not just how this could have happened, whether there were barricades up or not, or whether they went around barricades as law enforcement have described, but of course, why this happened in the way that it did in the opening hours of 2025, Phil.

MATTINGLY: Omar Jimenez live for us in New Orleans. And the why here is what Omar was just reporting on from our colleagues, Evan Perez, Priscilla Alvarez, Holmes Lybrand, investigators -- according to two law enforcements, telling our colleagues that an ISIS flag was on the person in the truck that was used during this attack. Also discovered in the truck was an ice chest that included multiple IEDs, explosive devices.

The investigation, you wonder, we've been talking about this, why the terminology of being investigated as a terrorism attack or as an act of terrorism, moved to the forefront over the course of the last several hours. This seems to be driving that as investigators are now looking into political ideology and known associates right now, that coming from our colleagues. We'll have more on that and the investigation as we continue. We'll be right back.

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[12:43:50]

MATTINGLY: We are back with the breaking news. I'm joined now by CNN Senior Justice Correspondent, Evan Perez, who is here with me. Evan, there's some significant new details you've been reporting out about the suspect. What do we know?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know now that perhaps some of the explanation of why the FBI very quickly started treating this as a terrorism investigation. One of the things they found at the scene was an ISIS flag that is believed to have been with the suspect. And so, again, that's one of the key factors here in treating this as a federal terrorism investigation.

The other thing that went to this determination by the FBI was finding IEDs inside an ice chest inside the truck. Again, that's one of the reasons why we heard a couple of booms where the bomb squads was essentially, detonating to make sure that the devices were rendered safe, to make the scene safe for investigators to be able to do their work. Now, again, one of the things that they're still working on is to figure out whether anyone else might have been associated with this -- with this person.

They know a lot about this person. They know he's a U.S. citizen. They know that there are some links in Texas. We don't know exactly at this point whether he was still living in Texas or just perhaps moved from there.

[12:45:00]

Again, part of that is -- all of that is still under this investigation. We also know that the vehicle, Phil, was owned by someone else. It was rented through an app where people put their private vehicles up for rental. It's very common nowadays for people to do that. And so, one of the things we did was we went to the person who owned the vehicle. That person is still alive, clearly, so it's not the person who was behind the wheel at the time of this incident.

MATTINGLY: All right. Evan Perez, very important new information. Please keep us posted as you continue to learn more with your great reporting with our colleagues, Priscilla Alvarez, Holmes Lybrand. I want to turn now to an eyewitness who was on Bourbon Street earlier this morning when this attack happens.

Zion Parsons is 18-years-old, was out celebrating the New Year. He joins me now. Zion, just take us into that moment. I can't imagine being there. I'm so sorry you had to witness this, to be a part of this horror. What did you see?

ZION PARSONS, WITNESS TO THE NEW ORLEANS INCIDENT (through telephone): So sitting near the bar 'Desires', all I saw was a Ford F-150 going towards me and my friends. So, one of the women who died, a young woman named Nakyra (ph) and it was terrifying just being out there (inaudible) as well. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

MATTINGLY: No, it's fine.

PARSONS: It was just like a -- like a movie. That's the only way I can explain it. Like a, like a movie, truly throwing people left and right. And afterwards, there were bodies and blood and all the trash, all the bodies.

MATTINGLY: You were with friends. You said you were with friends, were your friends OK? Are you OK? I can't, again, I can't imagine being there in this moment, what you're describing right now.

PARSONS: Best way I can describe it, is truly a war zone. Like, truly, deeply, I've seen -- I've seen people -- I've seen people crying in the fetal position and, like truly like a war zone. And the shots going off, people were terrified, running, screaming. And --

MATTINGLY: Was your group affect -- I know you were able to get to safety. Were all of your friends able to get to safety as well?

I believe we may have lost Zion Parsons again. That was Zion Parsons. He was a witness. He was there as an 18-year-old with a group of friends. And you could hear in his voice both the emotion, but also the trauma of being in that moment. We've all seen the videos. He was describing them for you in a first person manner. We appreciate and are very grateful for him coming on to share his story with us.

We certainly have our thoughts with him, his friends, the entire community down in New Orleans in this really, really difficult moment. Up next, not far from where the deadly crash unfolded, well, there is another huge event that will be taking place tonight, the Sugar Bowl. How college football leadership and police are reacting to the attack ahead of that game.

[12:53:05]

MATTINGLY: Well, as we continue to follow the breaking news, it's worth noting, only hours from now tens of thousands of Notre Dame and Georgia fans will gather in New Orleans for college football's Sugar Bowl, the site, the Superdome, less than a mile away from Bourbon Street where the suspect rammed his pickup into a crowd, killing at least 10 people.

It's been a question we've been asking all morning, how will security be adjusted for the game in the wake of the attack? For that, I want to bring in CNN Andy Scholes. Andy, we've been hearing from universities, from the conference, from law enforcement throughout the course of the morning about what they're planning, given this huge event that is coming less than 24 hours after the attack. What steps are being taken right now?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, Phil, officials say they are going to be beefing up security. And if you've ever been to a big event in New Orleans, there are cops, security officials just all over the city because everyone stays in the French Quarter for these big time events at the Superdome, and then you walk down Poydras Street to get to the event. So as you can imagine, all those Notre Dame fans, all those Georgia fans, probably going to be feeling a little uneasy this morning making that walk to the Superdome. But officials try to ensure those fans that it is going to be safe. Take a listen to the superintendent of police earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE KIRKPATRICK, NEW ORLEANS POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: We want our community and our visitors to continue enjoying. There's so much to enjoy about New Orleans, and we are going to make sure that our routes and the Superdome are safe today for the game. And yet, we had this tragic event and we're sorry again to everyone in our community, but we do want you to go about the day. As we say, just stay away from Bourbon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now the teams, the entire traveling parties, they stay right there in the French Quarter in both Notre Dame and Georgia, putting out statements this morning saying they were saddened by the event. And Georgia added that all team personnel, members of their official travel party, had been accounted for and they are safe.

[12:55:00]

But this was supposed to be a big day of college football, the Sugar Bowl, the night game tonight, 8:45 Eastern. The Peach Bowl here in Atlanta, it's about to kick off in just about five minutes in Atlanta. Police Department, they put out a statement saying that they were increasing security in light of what happened this morning in New Orleans. And Phil, of course, next month, the Super Bowl is going to be in New Orleans. And we got a statement from the NFL moments ago saying that they are going to be reviewing all of their security plans and are going to have a very comprehensive plan in place come next month.

MATTINGLY: Yeah. Significant posture shifts throughout the country in the wake of the attack we saw this morning. Andy Scholes, thanks so much and thank you for joining "Inside Politics." Coverage continues on "CNN News Central" after the break.

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