New Orleans Attack Shows Renewed Risk of Terrorism Inside U.S.

Summary

WSJ What’s News – January 2, 2025

Episode: New Orleans Attack Shows Renewed Risk of Terrorism Inside U.S.

On January 2, 2025, The Wall Street Journal's "What's News" podcast delved into a concerning resurgence of terrorism risks within the United States, spurred by recent attacks and geopolitical tensions. Hosted by Alex Osola, the episode provided an in-depth analysis of the New Orleans attack, its implications, and the broader economic landscape as the country steps into the new year.

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1. New Orleans Terrorist Attack

Incident Overview: The podcast opened with a report on the tragic events that unfolded in New Orleans, where Shamsuddin Jabbar, a U.S. Army veteran, drove a pickup truck into a crowd, resulting in multiple casualties. The FBI has concluded that Jabbar acted alone, inspired by the Islamic State (ISIS).

Investigation Findings: Christopher Rea, Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI Counterterrorism Division, stated at a news briefing:

“We do not assess at this point that anyone else involved in this attack is involved in this attack except for Shamsuddin Jabbar.” ([00:29]).

Rea further clarified that there is no connection between the New Orleans attack and a recent explosion involving a Tesla Cybertruck in Las Vegas, which was perpetrated by another service member, Matthew Allen Livelsberger.

Symbolism and Motivation: Authorities noted that Jabbar displayed an Islamic State flag on his vehicle, underscoring the ideological motivation behind the attack. This incident underscores the lingering threat of Islamist terrorism within the U.S., an issue that experts have been monitoring closely.

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2. Renewed Terrorism Risks and Expert Insights

Alan Cullison’s Analysis: Wall Street Journal reporter Alan Cullison provided expert commentary on the resurgence of militant activity:

“There’s been quite a bit of propaganda out there encouraging what we call lone wolf actors to go after targets in the West.” ([02:30]).

Cullison highlighted the ongoing challenges posed by ISIS affiliates, especially following recent conflicts involving Israel and Hamas, which have fueled extremist propaganda encouraging isolated individuals to carry out attacks. The focus remains on isolated "lone wolf" attackers, as most terrorist cells have been dismantled by law enforcement efforts over the past decade.

Future Threats: Cullison emphasized the difficulty in preventing lone wolf attacks, as these individuals often operate without direct communication or affiliation, making detection and intervention challenging. The podcast highlighted the necessity for community vigilance and proactive reporting by family members or community members to mitigate potential threats.

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3. Economic Outlook for 2025

Current Economic Status: Transitioning to economic discussions, Alex Osola introduced insights from White House economic policy reporter Brian Schwartz and economics reporter Rachel Wolf. The economy is cautiously optimistic, but uncertainties loom with the incoming Trump administration.

Brian Schwartz on Policy Impacts: Schwartz remarked:

“There are questions about the Fed and what they’re gonna do with cutting interest rates... How are Donald Trump's policies gonna impact the economy?” ([05:19]).

He highlighted concerns regarding potential tariffs on Chinese imports and the implications for trade with Canada and Mexico. These policy decisions are critical factors that economists are closely monitoring as they could significantly influence economic stability and growth.

Rachel Wolf on Consumer Behavior: Wolf provided an analysis of consumer spending trends:

“Consumers are still spending. There are some indications that spending could slow down in the spring.” ([05:49]).

She noted that consumer spending has remained robust, even contributing to a slight uptick in inflation. This resilience is partly due to anticipatory stockpiling ahead of anticipated tariffs. However, Wolf cautioned that sustained economic pressures could temper spending in the coming months.

Inflation and Policy Measures: Addressing inflation, Schwartz questioned President Trump's strategies to curb rising prices:

“He’s been running around the country saying he is going to bring grocery prices to death...” ([06:24]).

Schwartz expressed skepticism about the administration's concrete plans to mitigate inflation, emphasizing the complexity of factors influencing price levels. The interplay between proposed tariffs and inflation remains a critical area of focus.

Consumer Spending Dynamics: Wolf explored the paradox of continued consumer spending amidst inflationary pressures:

“Consumers can be a study in contradictions... People are definitely looking to see what Trump does as far as prices are concerned.” ([07:40]).

She suggested that while initial spending may have been driven by pandemic-related savings, future expenditures will likely be influenced by the administration’s economic policies and their effect on price stability.

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4. Market and Business News

Stock Market Movements: The podcast provided a snapshot of the stock markets as of January 2, 2025:

• S&P 500 and Nasdaq: Both indexes dipped by 0.2%.
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: Fell by 0.4%.

Tesla’s Performance: In business news, Tesla experienced a downturn:

“Tesla’s annual vehicle deliveries fell in 2024 for the first time in more than a decade.” ([09:00]).

The company reported a slight 2% increase in Q4 deliveries, heavily reliant on promotional strategies like interest-free financing and free supercharging. However, overall deliveries for the year declined by 1% to 1.79 million units. Tesla’s stock closed down approximately 6%, with the company set to report earnings later in the month.

Apple’s Legal Settlement: Apple faced legal challenges regarding its Siri voice assistant:

“Apple has agreed to pay $95 million in cash to resolve a class action lawsuit.” ([09:00]).

The lawsuit alleged that Siri was unintentionally activated, leading to the sharing of confidential conversations. The settlement mandates Apple to permanently delete individual Siri recordings obtained before October 2019 and to provide users with clear options to opt-in for improving Siri. Apple has denied any wrongdoing and has not yet responded to further comments.

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5. Conclusion

The episode concluded with acknowledgments to the production team and a reminder of the ongoing updates scheduled for the following days. As the U.S. grapples with internal security threats and economic uncertainties, the Wall Street Journal remains a crucial source of information and analysis.

Production Credits: Produced by Pierre Bienname and Anthony Banci, with supervising producer Michael Kosmides.

Host: Alex Osola emphasizes the continuous commitment to delivering top headlines and business stories that influence global markets.

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Key Takeaways:

• The New Orleans attack by Shamsuddin Jabbar underscores the persistent threat of lone wolf terrorism inspired by ISIS within the U.S.
• Economic forecasts for 2025 are tinged with optimism but shadowed by potential policy shifts under the Trump administration, particularly concerning tariffs and inflation control.
• Consumer behavior shows resilience amidst inflation, but future spending may be influenced by economic policies and price stability measures.
• Major corporations like Tesla and Apple are navigating significant challenges, impacting their market performance and legal standings.

Notable Quotes:

• Christopher Rea on the New Orleans attack: “We do not assess at this point that anyone else involved in this attack is involved in this attack except for Shamsuddin Jabbar.” ([00:29])
• Alan Cullison on militant activity: “There’s been quite a bit of propaganda out there encouraging what we call lone wolf actors to go after targets in the West.” ([02:30])
• Brian Schwartz on economic policies: “How are Donald Trump's policies gonna impact the economy?” ([05:19])
• Rachel Wolf on consumer spending: “Consumers are definitely looking to see what Trump does as far as prices are concerned.” ([07:40])

By synthesizing these developments, WSJ What’s News offers listeners a comprehensive overview of the critical issues shaping the nation’s security and economic landscape as 2025 unfolds.

Transcript

[Alex Osola]

3, 2, 1.

[Danny Lewis]

What will the world look like 10 or 20 years from now? The Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything podcast is here to give you a peek, and we can't wait to show you what's coming. Subscribe now.

[Alex Osola]

The FBI says that the suspect in yesterday's attack in New Orleans likely acted alone.

[Christopher Rea]

This was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act.

[Alex Osola]

And the attack highlights a revived terrorism risk in the U.S. plus, what challenges might the economy face in the year ahead? It's Thursday, January 2nd. I'm Alex Osola for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of what's news, the top headlines and business stories that move the world. Investigators believe that Shamsuddin Jabbar, the US army veteran who drove a pickup truck into a New Orleans crowd, acted alone. They've also found no link between that terrorist attack and the deadly explosion of a Tesla cybertruck in Las Vegas that was driven by another service member, Christopher Rea, deputy assistant director of the FBI Counterterrorism Division, speaking at a news briefing earlier today.

[Christopher Rea]

We do not assess at this point that anyone else involved in this attack is involved in this attack except for Shamsa Din Jabbar.

[Alex Osola]

The officials said that Jabbar was inspired by Islamic State. Police said that he flew an Islamic State flag on the pickup truck that he drove into the crowd. While the belief that Jabbar acted alone in the attack brought some margin of relief to New Orleans, developments in Las Vegas raised new questions about the blast there. U.S. officials said the man who rented a Tesla cybertruck that exploded in las Vegas was 37 year old Matthew Allen Livelsberger, a US army service member from Colorado. The Las Vegas Police Department said authorities haven't yet confirmed with 100% certainty that Livelsberger was the man killed in the blast because the body was burned beyond recognition. But investigators found items including a military id, passport and credit cards indicating the driver was Levelsberger. The attack in New Orleans highlights the revived risk of terrorism from affiliates of Islamic state in the U.S. one that experts have been warning about for more than a year. Wall Street Journal reporter Alan Cullison joins me now with more on this. Alan, have there been signs of increased militant activity recently?

Yeah, there have been warnings that there will likely be some attacks or at least encouragements or desires for attacks since the events in Israel, the Hamas attack on Israel and Israel's response from the invasion of Gaza and lately operations in Lebanon. Basically a lot of the Islamist groups, once they see a successful attack that draws publicity and money. They often imitate one another or compete for recruits by staging their own spectacular attacks. So there's been quite a bit of propaganda out there encouraging what we call lone wolf actors to go after targets. In the west. The FBI and counterterror work has broken up most cells. And so the main danger for the past decade have been lone wolf attackers who really don't have any direct communication.

With the center and what's being done about it.

The way that law enforcement has worked in the past was often to set out traps for them. But frankly, one of the main ways to stop such attacks is really only when a family member or a member of the community reports somebody like this. It's going to be a problem likely in the future, experts say, because there have been quite a few emigres from specific, particularly Afghanistan, which is where one of the groups, ISIS K has been very active and has succeeded in mounting transnational attacks. And there's just a lot of chatter from Islamist groups encouraging people to mount these things. So that's why there are expectations that this will continue.

That was Wall Street Journal reporter Alan Cullison. Thanks, Alan.

Thank you very much.

Coming up, from inflation to consumer spending, what might the economy have in store for 2025? That's what then will the future reveal?

[Danny Lewis]

There's one thing we know about the future. It's being built now.

[Alex Osola]

We all have a stake in the future.

[Rachel Wolf]

The future, the future, the future.

[Danny Lewis]

And the Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything podcast is here to give you a glimpse of what's on the way. I'm Danny Lewis. Join us as we dig into how science and technology are shaping the future.

[Alex Osola]

For that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives.

[Danny Lewis]

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

[Alex Osola]

The new year is here. So what are the challenges in 2025 for the economy and for consumers who last year struggled with inflation? I'm joined by White House economic policy reporter Brian Schwartz and economics reporter Rachel Wolf. Okay, guys, let's level set. How is the economy looking right now coming out of 2024? Brian, let's start with you.

[Christopher Rea]

All indicators are things are going well. There's questions about the Fed and what they're gonna do with cutting interest rates, but there are still questions as to how this is going to carry on with the new Trump administration. Not to say that this won't be a strong economy, but there are questions exactly. How are Donald Trump's policies gonna impact the economy? What's gonna happen when he likely places tariffs on Chinese Imports. Same with questions around Canada and imports coming from Mexico. The these are things that I think economists are watching very carefully.

[Alex Osola]

Rachel, how about from the consumer side?

[Rachel Wolf]

Consumers are still spending. There are some indications that spending could slow down in the spring. But as for now, if anything, consumer spending actually pushed inflation up a little bit in last month's reading. And what economists think in part was happening was that people were stocking up in advance of those expected tariffs and trying to get ahead on some big purchases.

[Alex Osola]

Brian, what is Trump likely to do when it comes to inflation? He's promised to cool it off. What does that actually mean?

[Christopher Rea]

Oh, I don't think he really knows how he's gonna do it, to tell you the truth. In recent statements, he's questioning how he's going to go back and bring down the price of groceries. Not to say he won't do this, but to be clear, I don't know if he has the concrete plan set up yet. But economists are looking at what's happening here with Donald Trump and his policies and asking that very same question. There are questions now as to how are the Republicans going to and through Congress and make some of these tax cuts that are expiring in 2025? How are you gonna make them permanent and how's that gonna impact the economy? Inflation on top of the fact that Trump is also discussing widespread tariffs on various goods coming from around the world. For Trump, politically, this first year or two is going to be absolutely critical. Forget the fact that the midterms are gonna come up in two years. It's just that he has been running around the country saying he is going to bring grocery prices to death. Now he really deliver some sort of notable change somehow that could bring down the price of groceries. And that's a tall order for any president to go about that because of so many factors at play here.

[Alex Osola]

Definitely. And Rachel, we talked about continuing to feel the effects of inflation, but you mentioned that consumers are still spending. So how do those two things actually fit together?

[Rachel Wolf]

Consumers can be a study in contradictions, for sure. Economists have asked, how long can it possibly continue? At first, people were spending down pandemic savings. Now those savings are mostly gone. I have a theory that it's because people aren't so much saving to buy houses. They're not saving to have kids in the same way, especially younger Americans. But yeah, I mean, people are definitely looking to see what Trump does as far as prices are concerned.

[Alex Osola]

That is something to keep an eye on, for sure. Rachel, what are you going to be watching for this year.

[Rachel Wolf]

I do think that if Trump goes through with tariff plans and it does bring prices up, then that really will have an impact on spending because I just can't see how it's possible for spending to continue like it has been. Also always interested in how the economy affects people's decisions on whether to get married and have kids. And have been writing a lot about younger Americans turning away from these things, in part because of how expensive they've become. Just more people feeling like these milestones are out of reach. And so I'm interested to see if that trend continues or turns around.

[Alex Osola]

And Brian, what about you?

[Christopher Rea]

My prediction is that Donald Trump's gonna come into office and he's going to slap more tariffs on goods coming from China. I feel like the market's gonna take a quick dive. But then I feel Trump's gonna come back and try to negotiate, maybe not with China, but the other countries he's alluded to, like Canada and Mexico, and try to come to some sort of deal. They'll avoid tariffs. My other part of the prediction is involving Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy and the Department of Government Efficiency. And I think they're really gonna face a challenge in what they wanna do. Remember, they're just kind of an advisory commission. So you're gonna see kind of battles between Elon Vivek and members of Congress over spending situations and policy. That's something to watch out for in the coming months ahead.

[Alex Osola]

That was White House economic policy reporter Brian Schwartz and economics reporter Rachel Wolf.

[Christopher Rea]

Foreign.

[Alex Osola]

Markets picked up in 2025, right where they left off late last year. US stock indexes veered slightly into the red today. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each slipped 0.2%. The Dow ticked lower by 0.4%. And in business news, Tesla's annual vehicle deliveries fell in 2024 for the first first time in more than a decade. The world's most valuable automaker posted a slight 2% increase in deliveries for the fourth quarter, leaning heavily on promotions such as interest free financing deals and free supercharging to enticed buyers. But it fell short of the vehicles it needed to sell to top its performance from 2023. For all of 2024, Tesla delivered 1.79 million vehicles worldwide, down about 1% from a year earlier. The company plans to report earnings later this month. Tesla stock closed the day down about 6%. And Apple has agreed to pay $95 million in cash to resolve a class action lawsuit. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleged that Apple's Siri voice assistant was activated unintentionally and went on to share confidential or private discussions that it heard with Apple. The proposed settlement requires Apple to confirm it has permanently deleted individual Siri auto recordings obtained prior to October 2019, and that the company published details explaining to users how they may opt in to improve Siri. Apple, which denied wrongdoing, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. And that's what's news for this Thursday afternoon. Today's show was produced by Pierre Bienname and Anthony Banci, with supervising producer Michael Kosmides. I'm Alex Zosola for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.