New Orleans attacker recorded visits to the city weeks earlier
The FBI said on Sunday that the U.S. Army veteran who intentionally crashed into New Orleans’ New Year’s celebrations had been there twice in the weeks prior to the incident and had used Meta smart glasses to shoot video.
During his attack on New Year’s Day, Shamsud-Din Jabbar also wore the Meta glasses, but they weren’t turned on for a livestream, and there was no sign that he was filming the incident.
During the drive, he did film recordings addressed to his family in which he informed them that he had joined the Islamic State and discussed plans to kill them.
At the City of Love Church on Saturday, hundreds of New Orleanians gathered to sing, shout, and pray in an attempt to find comfort and understanding.
“Even though we’re going through it, things will get better,” Bishop Lester Love assured the assembly. “The city is hurting, but it is also resilient.”
Experts caution that polarization online and in the US is fueling the rise in extremism. Algorithms in the internet world are designed to aggravate you. And all of that is contributing to a confluence of elements that are causing radicalization to rise, according to Seamus Hughes, a policy associate and senior researcher at the University of Nebraska Omaha.
Major winter storm threatens the U.S.
Winter storm warnings are in effect for tens of millions of people nationwide, with severe freezing temperatures and snowfall anticipated.
States of emergency were proclaimed in Kansas, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Virginia. The National Weather Service issued a warning about “considerable disruptions to daily life,” including “dangerous or impossible driving conditions and widespread closures.”
Through Friday, temperatures in the Central and Eastern United States are predicted to fall 10 to 30 degrees below normal. Wind chills will drop between minus 25 to minus 35 degrees from Montana to Wisconsin.
One of the major cities getting ready for snowy and icy weather heading into Monday, when Congress is supposed to certify the results of the presidential election, was Washington, D.C. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, stated, “We’re going to be in that chamber making sure this is done whether we’re in a blizzard or not.”
Watch the live coverage of NBC News here.
Indie filmmaker Jeff Baena dead at 47
Independent writer-director Jeff Baena, 47, passed away Friday at his Los Angeles home. He was well-known for films including Life After Beth and I Heart Huckabees.
According to the medical examiner’s reports, he committed suicide at home.
Since 2021, Baena and actor Aubrey Plaza have been wed. The pair worked together on a number of movies, including 2014’s Life After Beth, which Plaza appeared in and which was directed by the couple.
It is currently unknown what caused Baena’s death.
Meet the Press
The New Orleans attack, according to Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on Sunday, indicates that Kash Patel should not be confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to head the FBI.
Schiff stated on “Meet the Press” that the attack “underscores” the need for an FBI director “that has experience, has judgment, that has character, that will prioritize defending the country against the violence we saw in New Orleans or the violence we saw on Jan. 6.”
“Political vendettas” are one of Patel’s main priorities, he added, and the Senate shouldn’t confirm someone “who believes in ‘deep state’ conspiracy thinking.”
The entire interview is available to view here.
Politics in brief
Notable individuals such as Hillary Clinton, billionaire George Soros, actor Michael J. Fox, fashion icon Anna Wintour, and Bill Nye the Science Guy were all given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, by President Joe Biden.
Jimmy Carter’s lengthy public farewell started Saturday in Georgia with a procession and a private family service at the Carter Center. The state funeral for Carter is scheduled for Thursday in Washington, D.C.
Trump’s priorities: Speaker Johnson may have dealt a blow to some hard-line Republicans in the GOP by telling House Republicans that Trump prefers to pass a single reconciliation bill rather than two or more.
47 & 16: Trump has a special obsession with Abraham Lincoln, viewing him as both a historical titan and a somewhat modern political figure (although a flawed one).
The Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to deny Trump’s plea to postpone the implementation of a statute that would either force TikTok’s sale by its Chinese parent company by January 19 or effectively ban the app in the United States.
Hollywood gathers for the 82nd Golden Globes
The 82nd Golden Globe Awards, hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser, officially kick off the Hollywood awards season tonight.
While “Wicked,” “Challengers,” and “Anora” are competing for best comedy, “Dune: Part Two,” “A Complete Unknown,” and “Nickel Boys” are among the films up for best drama.
The first openly transgender woman to receive a Globe nomination for a leading film performance was Karla Sof a Gasc, who plays the main character in “Emilia Perez” (the movie with the most nominations heading into the evening).
Renowned television programs including “Sh gun,” “Hacks,” and “The Bear” are vying for the top spot in the television categories.
Watch live coverage from NBC News here.
In case you missed it
-
Tomiko Itooka, a Japanese woman who
held the Guinness World Record as the world’s oldest person
, died at 116 years old Saturday.
-
Motorists entering Manhattan s busiest neighborhoods
will now have to pay up to $9 in congestion charges
, as New York City s first-in-the-nation Congestion Relief Zone officially launched Sunday.
-
More than 500 animals in a Dallas shopping center
were killed in a structure fire
, according to authorities.
-
A missing 8-year-old boy was found alive
after
having
spen
t
five days alone in a Zimbabwe game park
filled with wild animals, a member of the country’s parliament said.
-
“Swipe fees,” payments businesses make to banks and card companies every time customers swipe, face growing pushback from some lawmakers,
who say the fees are excessive and
are
getting passed on to shoppers
.
-
Syria s new leadership
plans changes to the country s education curriculum. Some worry the changes are a hint of an intention to install an Islamist agenda in schools and beyond.
-
Israel faces pressure over its detention of a Gaza hospital chief,
with rights groups expressing grave concern over his fate
. The Israel Defense Forces said the prominent pediatrician was suspected of involvement in terrorist activities.”
-
Doctors are applauding the surgeon general’s suggestion to put cancer warning labels on alcoholic drinks. Several told NBC News
patients generally aren’t aware of those risks from drinking
.
-
Dietary supplements are more popular than ever
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. Are any of them actually worth it?