Transcript of 2019 report warned of security shortcomings in French Quarter

Good evening again from New Orleans, where the focus tonight is on why this area, the French Quarter, continued to be what one security expert called the perfect target five years after his firm warned officials that Bourbon Street, just behind us, was especially vulnerable to a vehicular ramming attack. Early Wednesday morning, a killer in a pickup truck exploited that vulnerability, police say, by simply driving onto the sidewalk to get around a police vehicle that was blocking the street. That was basically all it took. Now, 14 people are dead, dozens more hurt, some badly. We also learned late today how all of this could have been much worse. A statement from the FBI and ATF says the killer set fire to the short term rental location where he was staying to destroy evidence, some of which included ingredients for bomb-making material. You're seeing a doorbell video of him unloading his truck outside. Now, that statement also included an FBI assessment that the killer attended to use a transmitter found in his truck to set off the two IEDs that he had placed previously on Bourbon Street. Also, tonight, we're learning more about the man who blew himself up in a cyber truck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.

It is important to say that seen as Josh Campbell is reporting tonight, authorities have now assessed that there is no connection between that and what happened here. Now, this is newly released video of Matthew Leibelsberger, the active duty Green Beret at a charging station en route. Today, In a way, officials described him as troubled and self-destructive. It ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who is struggling with PTSD and other issues. Now, officials also said he left behind notes, including this one, and I'm quoting from it now, This was not a terrorist attack. It was a wake-up call. The note continued, Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives? We're going to have more on that attack later, a live report from Las Vegas. First, Randy K with more on the security shortcomings here in New Orleans that officials were were burned about five years ago, as well as the effort to address them, which, sadly, were not completed in time.

Keeping Bourbon Street safe for New Year's Eve revelers was priority number one. So what happened?

This particular terrorist drove around onto the sidewalk and got around the hard target.

We did indeed have a plan, but the terrorist defeated it. I'm at the corner of Bourbon and Canal Street, and this is where the city parked that police vehicle on New Year's Eve, what they refer to as the hard target. But the suspect managed to jump the curb with his truck, maneuvering around that police vehicle, then raced down Bourbon the street. The city's more permanent barriers are bollards like these, portable steel structures that were designed to prevent vehicles from entering Bourbon Street. They move up and down and can either lay flat or be raised to close the street to traffic when needed to protect pedestrians. Despite warnings years ago that this area was at risk for terrorism, including vehicular attacks, the Ballards were not used. When the attack happened, the Ballards were under construction and in the process of being repaired. Those barricades were not up, period.

They had the flimsy orange ones that you could just push over with your finger. We actually thought it was odd.

The city's explanation?

Ballards were not up because they are near completion with the expectation of being completed, of course, by Super Bowl.

All of this despite an alarming report from a private security firm in 2019 that warned the risk of terrorism in the each quarter remained highly possible while moderately probable. The report warned specifically about vehicle ramming and recommended fixing the barriers immediately. A source familiar with that 2019 report told CNN that New Orleans does own the type of temporary barrier that could have been used on New Year's Eve to block access to Bourbon Street but decided not to use it. Now, the New Orleans City Council is trying to figure out why Bourbon Street was left vulnerable to attack.

We have had some contradictory messages from internally as far as when the work was awarded and when it should have started. We are going to do our own deep dive investigation over the coming weeks to go into that.

This Department of Public Works plan, obtained by CNN, shows work began on the Ballard's on November 18th. This photo from a December 19th update shows the area at Bourbon and Canal Street under construction. That is exactly where the suspect entered and began his attack. The update also says Ballard installation was, Road happening at Canal and Bourbon. According to this plan, the work was supposed to continue through January.

I don't think they should let any vehicles at all.

It should always be blocked off at night time because something like this could happen.

And ready to joining me now. What is the city saying about keeping pedestrians safe moving forward?

Well, the police chief, Anderson, here is saying that they are going to harden the target around Bourbon Street, and that would include raising the existing barriers, also bringing in some heavy equipment. Then they also say that are going to add barriers to the sidewalks to keep them from another car, possibly going down the sidewalk and jumping the curb like this suspect did. But the police chief is also saying that having done all that, they believe it will be safe for people to come here for the Super Bowl next month, also for Mardi Gras in March. But then, of course, you have people, Anderson, who say this really isn't possible because, of course, there are a lot of pedestrians on Bourbon Street, but there's also a lot of cross streets, as you know, from just walking up and down. She said it's impossible to put these bollard stations at every single cross street because there's so much traffic, so she just doesn't think it's feasible.

Right, Okay. Thanks very much. I appreciate it. Joining us now is Dawn Avib, CEO of Inter4 International, which is the security firm behind that 2019 report. Dawn, I appreciate you joining us. As we mentioned, your report specifically warned about vehicle ramming and recommended that the ballers be fixed and improved immediately. Do you know what happened after you issued that report?

It's a great question. I wish I had that answer. Unfortunately, once we issued our report, we never heard from them again.

Do you think this attack... I mean, it's a tough question, but was it avoidable if your recommendations would have been heated?

Absolutely. This type of attack is absolutely avoidable. There have been over 200 vehicular attacks in the past 25 years around the world, and each one of them can be avoided. As you saw in the video and as you saw in your images, there was plenty of room for a vehicle to jump the curb and to go down on the sidewalk. An archer barrier or one of those vehicle barriers could have stopped that or mitigated that attack easily.

Can you just try to give more context when it comes to these barriers, these bollards, and what you found when speaking to people in the French Quarter before the report was issued?

Sure. We spoke to countless individuals in and around the French Quarter, and a lot of them had mixed ideas or explanations as to why the barriers were not working or up at the time. But they They range from sometimes the Mardi Gras beads would break the pneumatic systems, which we don't really believe, or they were kept down for ease of transport and deliveries for services for the hotels and restaurants. But at the end of the day, all you really need is to employ a simple device, such as an archer barrier, on a sidewalk or in the path of where a potential vehicle-born attack would come from. They knew where their police car should go. It's a simple matter of just putting an archer barrier on the sidewalks.

Who's ultimately in charge, as your understanding, in securing the French Quarter?

That's a very good question. During our 2019 inspection of the French Quarter, we identified over around 11 to 12 different police and security agencies and organizations that are responsible for securing the French Quarter. As you can imagine, this creates a little bit of a fiefdom scenario. The communication wasn't great between all the organizations. Ultimately, NOPD, the New Orleans Police Department, should have supremacy and command and control over the entirety of the French Quarter. But because of a lack of resources, you end up having a scenario where a different police department will handle one area and NOPD will handle the rest. It becomes a disjointed effort unlike other major cities.

It seems like there's a lot of questions about what work was being done? How long was work being done on these bollards? Why was it taking so long? How long would it theoretically take to really repair and fix this?

It should not take long at all. As soon as the contract is awarded, contractors can come in, tear up the ground, place it. It's like any type of refurb of any street. It does not take this long. Now, to be fair, I can't speak to what's happened since 2019, but I would say that many of these that we identified back then appear to exist today. That gap is significant, and it should not have taken this long.

I just want to point out, in 2016, there was the vehicle attack in Nice, which really put this on the radar of a lot of security personnel. We've just seen an increase since that time, and since 2019, certainly, there's been case after case of vehicle attacks and groups like ICE is promoting vehicles. Vehicle attacks.

Absolutely. Listen, anyone who can drive can become a weapon. I mean, that's as simple as it is. This is the weapon, the vector of choice for a number of terrorists and just individuals who are clearly mentally unwell. A week ago or two weeks ago, during the Christmas time period, we had an attack in Germany. We had an attack in Germany a couple of years ago. This happens so often, unfortunately, too often. It could also be an accidental scenario in which someone who loses control over a vehicle can drive into a crowd and also cause harm. I mean, this would never happen in a place like New York City, where if you think about the ball drop during New York, New Year's Eve, you can't even get close to that area. Anywhere there's a large concentration of pedestrians, there should be a ring of hardened facilities and protection around them.

Don Aviv, I appreciate your expertise. Thank you very much.