Go back. Go back. This was the scene from inside the lobby of the Trump International Hotel just after 830 Wednesday morning. A 2024 Tesla Cybertruck engulfed in flames in the Valley area just outside the main doors. [00:00:16] We saw sparks. It was pretty fast. This surveillance video caught the moment that Cybertruck exploded. Well, as you just saw from that footage, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded right in front of Trump Tower in Las Vegas, killing the occupant and injuring [00:00:35] seven others on New Year's Day. Now, miraculously, despite how horrific that scene was, only one person the occupant of the vehicle, died. So who carried this out? What was the motive and why was Elon Musk bragging? [00:00:51] Well, we'll get to Elon Musk and the bragging in just a minute. But first, the important details to this story. So surveillance video shows a driver passing by the Trump Hotel in Vegas about an hour before the car explodes and then circling back near the end of that hour [00:01:07] and stopping in front of the hotel, where the car explodes several seconds later, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. So here's Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin Mcmahill basically explaining what they found in the truck. [00:01:28] The fire. Initially, they covered it with a tarp to try to get it to go out. Once the fire went out through the suppression efforts of the fire department, you'll see some of the evidence in the back of the vehicle. So those are gasoline canisters. They are camp fuel canisters and large firework mortars. [00:01:50] So seven people, as I mentioned earlier in that area, were unfortunately injured, but luckily all of them are in stable condition. And remarkably, none of the glass at Trump Tower broke. Only and only that driver was killed. [00:02:06] So I mean, I'm sad about the seven people who were injured. I'm glad that they are in stable condition, but it is pretty miraculous that the only person who died was the person in the vehicle. And again, we don't know for sure what motivated this attack. I mean, obviously, I don't think it's a coincidence that he was in a cyber truck. [00:02:26] So Elon Musk, of course, very close with Donald Trump at the moment. And this attack happened or this explosion happened right in front of Trump Tower. So I'm very curious about what was behind this attack. And it is being investigated right now. Here's what we know for sure for now. [00:02:43] So the man who rented the Cybertruck has been identified as Matthew Leibensperger. He's a 37 year old member of the Army's elite special forces unit from Colorado Springs. Now, earlier, we were talking about the terror attack that took place [00:03:00] on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, and the US born citizen who carried out that attack was also an Army veteran. So that's really interesting. And the US Army said in regard to the Las Vegas attack on Thursday that Leibensperger was an active duty soldier from 2006 to 2011, [00:03:19] before transferring to the National Guard and then the Army Reserves. He rejoined the Army in 2012 and was a special operations soldier. US Special Operations Command confirmed that he was assigned to the command and on leave at the time of his death. [00:03:36] So he wasn't a veteran. He was still an active duty, but nonetheless, the two individuals that we're talking about today who carried out two separate attacks, you know, had affiliations with the military, and we don't know at the moment whether there's any connection to the two attacks so far. [00:03:53] Authorities do not believe so, but they're still investigating it. Officials, again, haven't definitively confirmed yet whether he was the man in the vehicle at the time of the explosion. But today, investigators said that IEDs and tattoos on the body gave them [00:04:10] strong indication that he was the guy. And they also revealed that the man had had shot himself in the head with a handgun before the explosion took place, and had another gun in the vehicle as well. Here's what else we know. [00:04:25] So the FBI is still trying to determine whether this was an act of terrorism. I don't begrudge anyone for making the assumption that it was meant to be an act of terror, considering where it took place. You know, especially in this highly charged political time. [00:04:40] They're also investigating whether the Cybertruck explosion is related to the attack in New Orleans. So again, there's some similarities. We've already gone over that. But as of this morning, the FBI is making clear that they have found no connection. So let's take a look at that. [00:04:57] We are following up on all potential leads and not ruling anything out. However, at this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas. And again, I'll preface as I close, I'll preface everything with what I started [00:05:14] with in the beginning, which was this is very early in an investigation like this. It is very early in the investigation and, you know, even though a motive hasn't been determined, a lot of people obviously are speculating [00:05:30] that it has to do with politics. And in fact, that includes the Vegas sheriff himself, who was quoted as saying, it's a Tesla truck. And we know that Elon Musk is working with president elect Trump and it's the Trump Tower. So there's obviously things to be concerned about there. [00:05:46] And speaking of Elon Musk, shortly after the attack, you know, he used this as an opportunity to give himself a pat on the back for producing vehicles that are as, durable, I guess, as the Cybertruck. So let's start with, Elon fanboy Ian Miles. [00:06:07] Ian Miles Cheong. He wrote on X the following. Elon's decision to build a Cybertruck like a tank may have saved many lives in Vegas today. Imagine how much worse the explosion would have been for all those in the vicinity if it was any other vehicle. [00:06:23] And I'm sure Trump. I'm sure Musk loved that. He responded by saying Cybertruck is the worst possible choice for a car bomb, as its stainless steel armor will contain the blast better than any other commercial vehicle. Look, I don't know if that's true about it being more durable [00:06:39] than any other commercial vehicle, but it is true that given the explosion, it is. We're very lucky that only the person in the vehicle died. Let's just put it that way. But I just feel like maybe don't use this as an opportunity to brag at the moment. [00:06:56] Just like let it go for the moment, okay? Especially considering how scary the situation is and must have been for people on the scene there. And look, to be fair to Elon, he wasn't the only one giving the Cybertruck some credit for containing the blast. The sheriff did so too, saying the fact that this was a Cybertruck really limited [00:07:14] the damage that occurred inside of the Valley, because it had most of the blast go up through the truck and out. But again, I'm not going to speculate on what the motive was here. I have no idea. And it would be irresponsible to just assume that it was meant to be [00:07:32] some sort of anti-Trump terror attack. Someone related to the individual in the vehicle claimed that he was not in any way against Trump, in fact, was in favor of Trump. I don't know how true that is, and I wouldn't take that at face value. [00:07:47] Right? Take that with a grain of salt. Let the authorities do the investigation and hopefully we'll learn more soon. But incredibly scary situation. I'm lucky. We're all lucky that no one else got hurt. Seriously, no one else died as a result of this. And it's just terrible that, you know, New Year's Day was riddled with these type of [00:08:06] horrible stories, these acts of violence. Thanks for watching The Young Turks really appreciate it. Another way to show support is through YouTube memberships. You'll get to interact with us more. There's live chat emojis, badges. You've got emojis of me Anna John Jr. So those are super fun. [00:08:24] But you also get playback of our exclusive member only shows and specials right after they air. So all of that, all you got to do is click that join button right underneath the video. Thank you.