The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | January 6th, 2025: FBI Releases NOLA Killer's Recordings & North Korea Fires Suspected Hypersonic Ballistic Missile
Mon, 06 Jan 2025
In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: First, an update on the ISIS-inspired New Orleans terror attack, as the FBI releases video recordings from the killer that show him surveying the site of the attack some two months before his murderous rampage. Then, we’ll turn to North Korea, where Kim Jong Un is kicking off the new year with a test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile with suspected hypersonic capabilities. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the update on the New Orleans terror attack?
It's Monday, 6th January. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First, an update on the ISIS-inspired New Orleans terror attack, as the FBI releases video recordings from the killer that show him surveying the site of the attack some two months before his murderous rampage.
Chapter 2: Who is Shamsuddin Jabbar and what did he do?
Then we'll turn to North Korea, where Kim Jong-un is kicking off the new year with a bang, testing an intermediate-range ballistic missile with suspected hypersonic capabilities. But first, our afternoon spotlight. I want to return to our coverage of the ISIS-inspired New Year's Day terror attack in New Orleans, where a U.S.
Army veteran drove a pickup truck through a crowd of revelers, killing 14 and injuring 35 others. We're now learning that the terrorist, identified as 42-year-old Shamsuddin Jabbar, made at least two visits to New Orleans before the New Year's Day attack, which he documented on video.
At a press conference on Sunday, FBI officials said Jabbar first visited the site of his attack on the 30th of October, staying at a rental home in the city for several days. That's according to a report from CNN. During his stay, Jabbar recorded video as he bicycled through the French Quarter around Bourbon Street.
He reportedly used a pair of Meta smart glasses to film the street and plan out his attack. Jabbar returned to New Orleans again on the 10th of November, though investigators said they're still attempting to piece together the details of that second trip.
On Sunday, the FBI released a compilation of video recordings made by Jabbar, as well as footage captured on security cameras of Jabbar walking through the French Quarter just hours before the attack. The video released by the FBI provides the first rough timeline of the events of that tragic day. Investigators said that after renting the Ford F-150 truck used in the attack,
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Chapter 3: What evidence did the FBI release regarding the attack?
Jabbar left his home in a Muslim immigrant neighborhood north of Houston on the morning of December 31st, telling a neighbor that he was moving to New Orleans for a new job. He arrived in Louisiana at around 2.30 p.m. on the 31st of December and later unloaded his truck at an Airbnb rental property in New Orleans at roughly 10 p.m.
Fifteen minutes after midnight, Jabbar set fire to the rental home and left in the truck. Authorities said this was likely done as a diversion and to hide evidence of his crimes, but the fire failed to engulf the home and was later put out.
Jabbar then headed into the heart of the city, planting two improvised explosive devices in coolers in the Bourbon Street area, which were rigged for remote detonation. Officials said one of the coolers, left at the corner of Bourbon and St. Peter Street at roughly 1.53 a.m., was moved at some point roughly a block away by unwitting bystanders. The second bomb was planted at roughly 2.20 a.m.
Less than an hour later, at 3.15 a.m., Jabbar would carry out his attack. Authorities were able to neutralize both of the improvised explosive devices planted in the city, along with a third homemade bomb found in his vehicle.
Officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, ATF, said Sunday that Jabbar might have been successful in setting off the explosives if not for the prompt and heroic response of local police, who engaged in a shootout with Jabbar after he crashed a truck, ultimately killing him. Two officers were injured in that firefight but are recovering from their wounds.
In addition to Jabbar's two previous scouting trips to New Orleans, authorities are also probing trips he took to both Egypt and Canada. Jabbar traveled to Cairo from June 22 to July 3, 2023, and then visited Ontario, Canada from July 10 to July 13, 2023.
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Chapter 4: How did Jabbar plan and execute the attack?
While the FBI maintains that Jabbar acted alone and has no domestic accomplices, they're still tracking down the details of those foreign trips to determine whether or not they are tied in any way to the attack. As a reminder, Jabbar, a convert to Islam, posted five videos to social media in the hours before the attack in which he, quote, pledged allegiance to ISIS.
In the videos, apparently addressed to his family and recorded while he was driving, he claimed to have officially joined the Islamic State sometime before last summer. Coming up, in North Korea, just conducted their first weapons test of the new year, firing off an intermediate-range ballistic missile with suspected hypersonic capabilities. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here.
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Chapter 5: What were the results of the FBI's investigation into Jabbar?
In its first weapons test of 2025, North Korea fired what is suspected to be a mid-range ballistic missile, even as Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with South Korea's acting president in Seoul during that country's ongoing political uncertainty.
According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missile was fired from an area near Pyongyang in North Korea early Monday, reaching an altitude of over 60 miles and traveling some 690 miles before splashing into the East Sea.
While the missile's exact classification remains under analysis, officials suspect that it may be similar to the hypersonic missiles tested by North Korea this past year, which are designed to evade interception through mid-flight maneuverability. Japan's defense ministry confirmed the missile's splashdown outside its exclusive economic zone with no damage to vessels. However,
Its landing in Russia's economic waters, well, raises fresh concerns about deepening ties between Pyongyang and Moscow. This high-profile launch comes after a spate of short-range missile tests in November of this past year, strategically timed just before the U.S. presidential election.
Now, as President-elect Trump prepares to take office and Washington reinforces its trilateral security alliance with Seoul and Tokyo, Pyongyang's calculated timing sends a clear signal of its strategic intent. The U.S., South Korea, and Japan, of course, denounced the launch in coordinated responses. South Korea's military elevated its surveillance and maintained a heightened readiness posture.
Secretary Blinken, speaking at a press conference in Seoul, condemned the missile test as another violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, characterizing North Korea's actions as provocations that undermine regional stability. And as we all well know at this point, if there's one thing that Kim Jong-un really hates, it's violating UN Security Council resolutions.
Blinken added that the Biden administration has attempted to sit down with Pyongyang without preconditions. However, Blinken stated, quote, the only response effectively we've gotten has been more and more provocative actions, including missile launches, end quote. Well, it's still a response, I suppose.
Japan's prime minister echoed Blinken's sentiments, warning of the implications of Pyongyang's technological advances, stating, "...the frequency of these launches and the evident improvement in technology demand that we redouble our efforts to strengthen deterrence." That's underscoring, of course, the urgency of regional security cooperation.
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Chapter 6: What happened in North Korea at the start of the new year?
The test coincides with past reports suggesting that North Korea is trading its troops to assist Russia's war with Ukraine in exchange for advanced satellite technology and other weapons technology. This ongoing romance between Putin and Kim Jong-un of course complicates an already volatile geopolitical landscape. State-run media in North Korea has yet to comment on the test.
The regime there usually announces results about 24 hours after any launch, but the act is widely interpreted as a continuation of the regime's nuclear ambitions and a justification for its military buildup against what it perceives as U.S.-led encirclement. And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin for Monday, 6 January.
If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com. And don't forget what your mother told you. If you want to listen to the show ad-free, well, simply become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. It really is that simple. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe. Stay cool.