The Cosmic Watchdog

New Orleans attacker recorded visits to the city weeks earlier

The U.S. Army veteran who deliberately plowed into New Year’s revelers in New Orleans visited the city twice in the weeks before the attack and recorded video using Meta smart glasses, the FBI revealed Sunday.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar also had the Meta glasses during his New Year’s Day attack, but they were not activated for a livestream, and there was no indication he was recording the attack at all.

He did record videos during the drive addressed to his family, in which he talked about plans to kill them and told them he had joined the Islamic State.

On Saturday hundreds of New Orleanians gathered at City of Love Church to seek solace and understanding — singing, shouting and praying.

“Even though we’re going through it, things will get better,” Bishop Lester Love told the congregation. “The city is hurting, but it is also resilient.”

Experts warn that polarization in the United States and online is contributing to an increase in extremism. “The online environment has algorithms that are set up to make you angry. And all that is playing into a perfect storm of factors that are leading to an increase in radicalization,” said Seamus Hughes, a senior researcher and policy associate at the University of Nebraska Omaha.

Major winter storm threatens the U.S.

Tens of millions of people are under winter storm warnings, with heavy snow and bitter cold temperatures expected across the country.

Kansas, Arkansas, Kentucky and Virginia declared states of emergency, and the National Weather Service warned of “considerable disruptions to daily life,” including “dangerous or impossible driving conditions and widespread closures.”

Temperatures are expected to drop 10 to 30 degrees below average through Friday across the Central and Eastern U.S. From Montana to Wisconsin, wind chills will plummet to between minus 25 and minus 35 degrees.

Washington, D.C., was one of the major cities preparing for snowy and icy conditions into Monday, when Congress is meant to certify the presidential election results. “Whether we’re in a blizzard or not, we’re going to be in that chamber making sure this is done,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Follow along with NBC News’ live coverage here.

Indie filmmaker Jeff Baena dead at 47

Jeff Baena, an independent writer-director known for movies like “Life After Beth” and “I Heart Huckabees,” died Friday at his Los Angeles home at 47.

He died by suicide at a home, according to the medical examiner’s records.

Baena had been married to actor Aubrey Plaza since 2021. The couple collaborated on several films, including “Life After Beth” in 2014, which directed and Plaza starred in.

The circumstances of Baena’s death are not known at this time.

Meet the Press

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Sunday that the attack in New Orleans shows Kash Patel shouldn’t be confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI.

Schiff said on “Meet the Press” that the attack “underscores” the importance of 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.”

He said that Patel’s top priority is “political vendettas” and that the Senate shouldn’t confirm someone “who believes in ‘deep state’ conspiracy thinking.”

You can watch the full interview here.

Politics in brief

The highest civilian award: President Joe Biden gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to notable figures including Hillary Clinton, billionaire George Soros, actor Michael J. Fox, fashion icon Anna Wintour and Bill Nye the Science Guy.

Carter’s long goodbye: Jimmy Carter’s extended public farewell began Saturday in Georgia, with a procession and a private family service at the Carter Center ahead of Thursday’s state funeral in Washington, D.C.

Trump’s priorities: Speaker Johnson told House Republicans that Trump favors passing a single reconciliation bill, rather than two or more, which could be a blow to some GOP hard-liners.

47 & 16: Trump has a particular fixation on Abraham Lincoln, treating him as not only a giant of history but also something of a political contemporary (and a flawed one at that).

TikTok ban: The Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to reject Trump’s request to delay implementing a law that would effectively ban TikTok in the United States or force its sale by its Chinese parent company by Jan. 19.

Hollywood gathers for the 82nd Golden Globes

Hollywood awards season officially kicks off tonight with the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser.

“Dune: Part Two,” “A Complete Unknown,” and “Nickel Boys” are among the films up for best drama, while “Wicked,” “Challengers” and “Anora” are vying for best comedy.

Karla Sofía Gascón, who plays the title character in “Emilia Perez” (the film going into the night with the most nominations), made history as the first openly transgender woman to be nominated for a Globe for a leading film role.

In the television categories, acclaimed shows like “Shōgun,” “Hacks” and “The Bear” are up for top honors.

Follow along with NBC News’ live coverage 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 spent 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. Are any of them actually worth it?