Instant Reaction: Cybertruck Blast Suspect Identified

Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news, the Mitchropolitan Police Department 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:14.080 of Vegas holding that press conference, FBI agent responsible for 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:17.959 that division that area. The Vegas Sheriff also basically, of course, 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:22.160 covering what happened when a Tesla cybertruck exploded outside the 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:24.880 Trump Las Vegas Hotel. That was hours after a deadly 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:27.440 attack in New Orleans, French Quarter on New Year's Eve 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:30.200 that killed at least fifteen people, injured dozens. The cyber 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:34.240 truck explosion, killing the driver and injuring seven others. But tim, 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:37.120 now we know the driver, We're getting more information about 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:39.040 what happened leading right up to that explosion. 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:42.280 Yeah, the Las Vegas Police have identified a Matthew Leiveelsberger 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:44.640 as the suspect, but they still need to get DNA 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:48.080 to identify the suspect. The suspect did have a gunshot 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:51.199 wound to the head before blast. The sheriff did note 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:53.880 that he believed it was self inflicted, but has yet 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:56.880 to be confirmed. Las Vegas Police Carol also not aware 0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:58.680 of any other subjects in this case. 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:00.520 I think what's also key as these two two incidents 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:02.960 happened so close to one another in terms of timing 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:05.680 that connections. Not ready to rule in, not ready to 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:07.720 rule out, is what we heard from that press conference. 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:11.120 Comment made that very strange similarities with the case in 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:13.880 New Orleans in terms of what happened in Vegas. The 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:17.600 motivation unknown for the cyber truck blast at that Vegas 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:21.319 Trump Vegas Hotel. That coming from the FBI, no ideology 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:25.120 leading to either the President elect, nor to Elon Musk 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:27.679 nor to Tesla, So there is still more to be known. 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:29.720 You should know Tesla staff is planning to arrive this 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:31.760 afternoon to assist with the probe. We just heard that 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:34.640 from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. The FBI also 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:37.600 saying that the blast is being investigated globally, but there's 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:40.640 no current evidence connecting the subject to a terror group. 0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:42.759 But I still say, will say just one last point 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:45.360 that confident. At least we're hearing from the Las Vegas 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:48.480 Metropolitan Police Department that they are confident in the safety 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:51.960 of their community. At this point, let's get to the 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:56.800 broader security implications for the United States. Nick Wattams is 0:01:56.800 --> 0:01:59.600 back with US National Security Team leader at Bloomberg News. 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:02.440 He joined from our DC Bureau. A lot going on. 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:05.160 We continue to get some more elements to this story, 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:09.799 more information, Nick, But what are you hearing from your 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:15.920 sources or from the US security and intelligence areas and 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:19.840 departments about where this goes, or what are the many 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:21.760 big questions that maybe are still out there. 0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:25.200 Well, it looks like the biggest question now has essentially 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:28.840 been answered, which to a lot of people's mind was 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:32.239 what was the connection between these two incidents. Obviously during 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:35.080 the press conference there you heard the sheriff say that 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:38.600 there were certain similarities, but officials are now saying essentially 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:42.280 that they see no direct connection between these two attacks. 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:46.120 There had been some reporting that the two suspects there 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:50.799 were both obviously US military veterans, may have overlapped briefly 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:53.760 at a base in the United States during their time 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:56.720 when they served. But for the moment, that looks like 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:59.080 it was a little bit of a false trail and 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:02.200 there was no though that was you know, a lot 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:05.120 of people's immediate instinct. The other thing that really struck 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:07.600 me from that press conference was them saying they are 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:12.600 looking globally so trying to figure out what putting each 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:16.079 of these attacks in their context. Obviously, there was the 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:20.320 New Orleans attack, the suspect had an Islamic state flag 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:23.160 in his car. Authorities said no such indication on the 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:27.080 Las Vegas one, but it looks like authorities are not 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:30.120 ruling out the possibility that, you know, these may have 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:32.959 not been loan actors, that they might have had some 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:33.840 support network. 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:36.120 So that's still a big unknown that we're looking into. 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:40.160 What surprised me or was What really struck me nick 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:42.960 during this press conference, especially compared to the one we 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:45.480 saw with the FBI and other law enforcement officials out 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:48.400 of New Orleans earlier today, was that in New Orleans, 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:51.440 officials were very quick to say this was terrorism. It's 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:54.200 being treated as terrorism. We didn't hear that from this 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:56.560 press conference this afternoon. How do you read into. 0:03:56.400 --> 0:04:02.600 That, well, a very orny and sensitive issue, how these 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:06.920 attacks get labeled terrorism or not. I would suspect that 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:10.760 the reason for the New Orleans attack being labeled that 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:14.200 way was they found that Islamic state flag in there. 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:17.080 There was a lot of conflicting information, of course, going 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:20.719 around in the run up to that, whether the suspect 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:23.520 was a migrant had come from abroad, when in fact 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:27.400 we learned he was a US citizen, had served in 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:32.360 the army for many years. But you know, when you 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:35.960 see that flag, that Islamic State flag in the car, 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:37.880 that's a pretty telling indication. 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:38.320 Of course. 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:43.440 The big question there again is was this suspect inspired 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:48.160 by the Islamic State, essentially self radicalized, as has happened 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:51.680 with some attacks in the past, or was this some 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:55.640 bigger operation or part of some bigger operation by the group, 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:59.239 which we do have indications has sort of come back 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:03.280 after the punishing campaign by the US to essentially eliminate it, 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:06.360 that there has been something of a resurgence. However, at 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:09.039 this time, I mean again stressing there is still so 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:10.320 much we don't know. 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:12.480 About either of these attacks. 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:14.640 I think in the case of the New Orleans when 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:18.080 there is no immediate evidence that this was planned or 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:20.880 orchestrated with the Islamic State, which still has a toe 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:24.880 hold in Syria, and all indications suggests that the suspect 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:27.080 there had essentially been self radicalized. 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:29.120 But we're still trying to answer all those questions. 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:31.279 No, absolutely, and Nick, you know, I feel like we 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:34.119 do have a fairmount more answers as you are laying 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:35.920 out and as we just heard in that press conference. 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:37.680 But what's top of mind for you in terms of 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:40.920 kind of the big question that still needs to be answered. 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:45.800 Well, I think, you know, really there's the very interesting 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:51.279 fact that both were military veterans. At a lot of 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:54.520 issues are coming to light about the about the background 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:59.440 of the New Orleans attacker and the strain he had 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:02.520 potentially been under at home. We know a lot less 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:06.200 about the attacker in Las Vegas, though, I did think 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:09.800 it was also very interesting from the press conference there 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.840 that they said, hey, you know, they believe the effectiveness 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:15.400 of the bomb was not a sort of in keeping 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:19.839 with the level of experience. They thought that the suspect 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:24.240 there had, which I think is obviously an indication, as 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:27.960 officials have said that he was a special operator in 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:32.240 the US military. So but certainly the fact that both 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:36.680 appear to be American citizens, both army veterans, one we 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.719 know served in Afghanistan. We're still trying to get details 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:43.480 of the Las Vegas attackers military record, but there are 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:48.800 some similarities there that really begs some big questions, and 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:50.440 we're going to be trying to figure that out over 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:51.200 the next couple of days. 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:53.760 Right that one response by one of the officials at 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:58.200 that Vegas press conference media conference comment made that very 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.919 strange similarities with the case in New Orleans what happened 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:04.200 in Vegas. So still some more answers that, Well, we'll 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:06.640 all be looking forward to it. Nick, really appreciate it. 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:09.080 Nick Wadhams, he's National Security team leader right here at 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:11.560 Bloomberg News, joining us right there from our bureau in 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:12.880 the nation's capital. 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:15.200 From Washington, DC, now to Detroit. I want to bring 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:17.800 in Bloomberg News Auto reporter Keith Notton for more on 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:20.320 this and then some other Tesla news that we learned 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:23.920 a little earlier today that Tesla's annual vehicle sales dropped 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:25.760 for the first time in more than a decade, to 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:27.880 spite a year and push that sent deliveries to a 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:31.680 record in the fourth quarter. Tesla's shares selling off as 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:33.360 a result. We're going to get to that in just 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:35.160 a minute, Keith, but I do want to start with 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:37.960 the news just moments ago that we learned from officials 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:41.120 in Las Vegas that members of Tesla's staff are on 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:44.320 their way to Las Vegas to assist law enforcement agents 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:49.240 with finding information from this cyber truck that yesterday had 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:53.239 an explosive device or explosive devices in it. I'm curious 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:58.200 what types of information they can get from what happens 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:00.960 inside of Tesla, what happens outside of teme Esla, because 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.920 for people who aren't familiar with these vehicles, these have 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:06.240 quite a few cameras recording at all times on the 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:08.239 outside well for sure. 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:12.800 So you know, modern vehicles, particularly Tesla's, are highly sophisticated. 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:16.640 They have a lot of devices that record what goes 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:19.480 on in the car, cameras being one of them. And 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:21.720 so while they're not for the level of a black 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:24.600 box on a jet or something like that, it can 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:27.200 provide a lot of important information if you're doing an 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:31.520 investigation like this. You know, we have two incidents yesterday, 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:35.080 the one in Vegas with the Tesla cybertruck and then 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:38.880 the attack in New Orleans on Bourbon Street, and that 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:41.880 was with a Ford F one fifty lightning. I've been 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:44.240 on the phone with Ford this morning, and they are 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:47.880 also cooperating with authorities to provide them any information they 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:51.240 can glean from that F one fifty lightning. So the 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:54.960 way modern cars, particularly electric vehicles, so these are both 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:59.320 electric vehicles, both rented from trurob anyway, and so they 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:02.800 can provide all sorts of interesting and helpful data as 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:04.840 this investigation goes on, I got to. 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.440 Ask you, Keith. Okay, and again forgive us folks, because 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:09.320 we're trying to be very careful here and really just 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:11.480 talk about facts and stuff. But is it interesting that 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:12.800 both were electric vehicles? 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:14.200 Yeah? 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:15.840 Well, I mean one way to look at that, And 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:17.440 again I don't want to go too far into the 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:21.480 speculation exactly, but electric vehicles, in the case of the 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:25.440 New Orleans attack, they are powered by a battery that 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:28.400 is very heavy that adds thousands of pounds of weight 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:31.959 to the vehicle. So you know, if you're looking to 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:37.360 maximize destructive properties, more weight will do that. 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:40.200 Keith, what do you make of the Turo connection here? 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:43.080 I think a lot of folks might be familiar with 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:45.600 traditional places to runt a vehicle, but are now hearing 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:46.840 about Turo for the first time. 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.480 Right, And Turo, you know, it can be a little 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:54.840 bit like automotive Airbnb. Sometimes it's individuals who are renting 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:58.480 out their exotic cars. Turo has been known for exotics 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:01.840 and for electric vehicles. We don't know, or I don't 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:04.360 know the details of how these two were rented and 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:06.720 where they come from. I know that in the case 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:09.360 of Forward, from my conversations with them, they're trying to 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:12.880 help with that, but it is it is a rental 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:19.760 traditionally that has rented more exotic cars, different cars, electric vehicles, 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:22.480 not your standard hurt zenatas. 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:24.480 All right, kind of leave it on that note. Keith Nulton, 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:26.520 thank you so much. Auto reporter at Bloomberg News joining 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:27.160 us in Detroit.