MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
President Biden is visiting New Orleans today in the wake of the deadly attack on the city's famous Bourbon Street. On New Year's Day, a man drove a truck into the crowd of people celebrating, killing 14 people. The president and the first lady are in Louisiana to meet with families and members of the community. And NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid is with us for the latest. Hi, Asma.
ASMA KHALID, BYLINE: Hi there. It's good to be with you.
KELLY: And to have you with us. What is the president's message today?
KHALID: You know, Mary Louise, this is broadly one of the difficult jobs that any president has. It's to be the consoler in chief. I've traveled with President Biden as he's been there and given people hugs who've lost their homes, say, in hurricanes or wildfires. And now here he is today after this deadly attack that, as you mentioned, killed 14 people, injured dozens more to try to offer some solace to people there. He is a president who, I will say, has taken great pains to be there and comfort people in moments of grief, often pointing to moments of tragedy in his own family. He told reporters yesterday that he hopes to send the victims' families a personal message if he can speak to them alone, and he added that he's been there and knows that there's not really anything you can say to somebody who has had such a tragic loss.
KELLY: So what is the actual itinerary in New Orleans today?
KHALID: He's meeting with people who are grieving. You know, he's going to an interfaith prayer service, and he wants to show that the country that he is president stands with the people of New Orleans. Here he was the other night, speaking about the attack.
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PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: New Orleans is a place unlike any other place in the world. It's a city full of charm and joy. So many people around the world love New Orleans because of its history, its culture and, above all, its people. So I know while this person committed a terrible assault on the city, the spirit of New Orleans will never, never, never be defeated. It always will shine forth.
KHALID: And President Biden is giving the city more resources for the upcoming Super Bowl and Mardi Gras for security purposes. You know, also, Mary Louise, he has been trying to broadly push back against conspiracy theories about what actually happened in this attack.
KELLY: Right. Well, we are obviously doing the same, so let's stick with the facts. What is the latest on the status of the investigation, Asma?
KHALID: Yeah. And Biden says that he has spent hours and hours with the intelligence community to figure out what exactly happened. The FBI says the attacker published videos online proclaiming his support for the Islamic state group. Investigators, though, are still trying to piece together all the details. The president says that they have established beyond any reasonable doubt that the New Orleans attack was the act of a single man. And he says there's no evidence that it was the result of foreigners coming across the border. President-elect Donald Trump has tried to draw a through line from Biden's immigration policies to this attack, but the attacker, of course, was a U.S. citizen born in the United States of America.
KELLY: May I circle you back to something you said at the beginning, Asma, that this is Joe Biden's consoler in chief? This is perhaps one of the last times the country will see him in that role. Just remind us how he played it these last few years.
KHALID: Yeah. Yeah. You know, Mary Louise, this is a role that many presidents have played, but I will say if I can take a point of personal privilege here, I don't know that we have seen someone in recent history embrace the role as naturally as Biden. You know, whether or not folks agree or disagree with his policies, he has a degree of comfort in these moments of grief, in part because he's lost his first wife, his daughter and then later his son Beau Biden. It is a role that he embraced even as vice president. I remember him coming up to Boston after the Boston Marathon bombings to console people there, and, of course, later this week, he's going to play the role again when he delivers a eulogy at the former President Jimmy Carter's memorial service.
KELLY: NPR's Asma Khalid. Thank you.
KHALID: My pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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