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Heightened security restrictions will be in effect for the busiest section of the French Quarter starting next Wednesday through at least the day after Super Bowl LIX is played, Gov. Jeff Landry announced Wednesday.

The additional safety measures follow a Jan. 1 terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured 57 others. They apply to the first seven blocks of Bourbon Street and the parallel streets one block on each side. All blocks between Royal and Dauphine streets will become an “enhanced security zone,” where certain items will be prohibited and personal accessories could be searched or seized.

Ice chests and backpack coolers will not be allowed inside the zone. People are also discouraged from bringing standard backpacks, large purses, suitcases, fanny packs, large shopping bags and camera bags into the area. Any bags larger than 4.5 inches by 6.5 inches – roughly the size of a clutch purse – will be subject to search, Landry said.

Anyone who refuses a police search will be denied entry to the security zone. Police also have the authority to search bags within the area, and they will remove anyone who doesn’t comply.

“We want cooperation with the public and balancing freedoms to enjoy the Quarter, with the need for these heightened security measures based upon the threat level that we saw on January 1,” the governor said during a news conference at the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

Ice chests have been singled out for exclusion after Shamsud-Din Jabbar placed homemade explosive devices in two coolers and left them at separate locations in the midst of Bourbon Street revelers in the early hours of New Year’s Day. The FBI said a third bomb and a detonating device were found inside Jabbar’s rented pickup that he drove down three crowded blocks of Bourbon before crashing into a mobile lift platform.

Police killed Jabbar, a 42-year-old IT worker and U.S. Army veteran from Houston, in a shootout. He flew an Islamic State flag from the truck and had posted videos online ahead of the attack professing his extremist beliefs.

Landry created the security zone and provided police with enhanced powers inside of it through an executive order. It renewed the state of emergency he declared Jan. 1 for New Orleans, and its language indicates it could potentially be extended into Carnival season.

Read the governor’s order below

“We are going to focus on the Super Bowl right now,” the governor said. “We then will pivot once we get through the Super Bowl to Mardi Gras,” implying there will be heightened safety measures in place again for the French Quarter and potentially along parade routes.

Gov. Jeff Landry addresses reporters Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, on extra security precautions in New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX. Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Robert Hodges, left, took part in the new conference with the governor at the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in Baton Rouge. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)

The governor’s order does not apply to the Superdome, where the NFL and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are handling security precautions for the Super Bowl. Landry said state and city law enforcement officers will be working within their perimeters, however.

“As you move closer to the Superdome, the security restrictions are enhanced,” Landry said.

Several streets in the vicinity of the stadium and Smoothie King Center are already closed to traffic. More will be blocked when pre-Super Bowl events take place at other downtown locations, including the Morial New Orleans Convention Center and the Saenger Theater.

The NFL championship game takes place Sunday, Feb. 9.

In addition to local, state and federal law enforcement, there will be 350 members of the Louisiana National Guard dispatched to New Orleans to assist with traffic control and security checkpoints, according to the governor.

In addition to heightened security, the temporary homeless Landry established near the Gentilly neighborhood will be used through Mardi Gras, he said. There are currently 176 people staying at a contractor-staffed Port of New Orleans storage facility on France Road, the governor said.

Landry clashed with some city officials when directed Louisiana State Police to remove unhoused people from encampments in close proximity to the Superdome. He used his emergency powers to award a contract to operate the temporary shelter, where he said residents are receiving services that “are exponentially better than the ones they were receiving on the street.”

President Donald Trump's first ten days back in the Oval Office have included wildly controversial decisions such as granting full pardons to violent criminals who attacked a coequal branch of government on his behalf four years ago, expelling transgender service members from the United States military, and unilaterally stripping birthright citizenship from the United States Constitution.

As Rolling Stone reports, Trump and his team have concocted a strategy to "flood the zone" with "uniquely depraved" orders and policies in the hopes of mentally overwhelming a demoralized Democratic Party.

"Trump and his officials were confident the general public would grow numb — and stay numb — to this opening onslaught," the publication writes. "Trump appears to be taking that mentality to heart. The first 10 days of the administration have been marked by an unprecedented barrage of barbaric policy moves and casual executive depravity. In many cases these actions have flown in the face of the law, decades of tradition, and even the constitution."

ALSO READ: 'It's racist': Republican governor shamed for defunding state's lone Black college

The publication then throughly documents all of the actions Trump has taken over just the last ten days, which have resulted in multiple lawsuits being filed by blue-state attorneys general.

At least one Trump executive order has come back to bite him, however, as his decision to shut off all federal loans and grants this week led to mass chaos throughout the country that temporarily shut down Medicaid portals in all 50 states.

This led to a federal judge in the District of Columbia to block the freeze until at least next week.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised to enact a ban on the abortion drug mifepristone if President Donald Trump told him to do so after he was confirmed as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) asked Kennedy about medical abortion policies during a Wednesday Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing.

"The FDA has been under scrutiny and brought to court for failure to properly assess this drug as well as subsequent deregulations," Daines opined. "Some of these deregulations included ending the requirement that these drugs be prescribed by a doctor, ending reporting requirements for adverse events, and allowing these pills to be obtained through the mail."

"In fact, the FDA's own prescribing label mentioned that three to five percent of women taking this drug end up in the emergency room," the senator continued. "My question is, if confirmed as Secretary of HHS, will you commit to working with the FDA Commission to review these deregulatory actions that are threatening the safety of women?"

ALSO READ: Top GOPer's ‘most immediate’ priority for new committee includes probing a MAGA conspiracy

Kennedy called the current policies on abortion drugs "immoral."

"President Trump has asked me to study the safety of mifepristone," the nominee added. "He has not yet taken a stand on how to regulate it."

"Whatever he does, I will implement those policies."

Watch the video below from CNN or click here.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) raised her voice to yell back at Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his confirmation hearing on Wednesday as the Heath and Human Services nominee tried to twist her question in knots.

Warren pointed out that Kennedy has made over $2 million from a law firm that is searching for plaintiffs to sue over vaccines. Warren asked if Kennedy would agree that he would not accept any cash payments while serving as secretary of HHS.

Kennedy twisted the comment into Warren asking if he won't sue drug companies, putting the words in her mouth.

ALSO READ: RFK Jr. botched his financial reports — omitting $500,000 in anti-vax and law income

"You're asking me to not sue drug companies. And I'm not going to agree to that," Kennedy said.

Warren shouted over him, "No, I am not!"

"So, let's do a quick count here of how, as secretary of HHS, if you get confirmed, you could influence every one of those lawsuits," Warren, a former Harvard professor and lawyer, continued. "Well, let me start the list. You could publish your anti-vaccine conspiracies, but this time on us government letterhead, something a jury might be impressed by."

"I don't understand," Kennedy fumbled.

"You could appoint that vaccine panel who share your anti-vax views and let them do your dirty work," Warren continued. "You could tell the CDC vaccine panel to remove a particular vaccine from the vaccine schedule. You could remove vaccines from special compensation programs, which would open up manufacturers to mass torts. You could make more injuries eligible for compensation, even if there is no causal evidence. You could change vaccine court processes to make it easier to bring junk lawsuits. You could turn over FDA data to your friends at the law firm and they could use it however, it benefited them. You could change vaccine labeling. You could change vaccine information rules. You could change which claims are compensated in the vaccine injury compensation program."

She demanded to know if he would refrain from taking a financial cut from those lawsuits while at HHS and in the four years after.

All Kennedy would commit to is to follow current ethical guidelines.

See the clip below or at the link here.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis got an assist from a leading law enforcement organization as his push to see through a sweeping illegal immigration package in his state is being met with resistance – including from Republicans.

The Florida Sheriffs Association on Tuesday threw its support to DeSantis and President Donald Trump, who have both placed illegal immigration at the top of their legislative priorities list.

“Removing illegal immigrants who commit crimes in our Florida communities is an issue that affects all of us, and we are grateful that the Governor and the Legislature were willing to address it immediately,” Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell, who also serves as organization president, said in a statement. “The Sheriffs of Florida strongly agree on the importance of assisting President Trump and ICE in accomplishing this vision quickly.”

Prummell added that the Florida Legislature has “worked closely” with the longtime sheriff's organization for decades “to ensure our concerns are heard so we have the tools we need to effectively and efficiently remove criminal aliens from our communities across the State of Florida, thus protecting Floridians and visitors of our great State. We are thankful for their support.”

ALSO READ: Top GOPer's 'most immediate' priority for new committee includes probing a MAGA conspiracy

The development comes as DeSantis has been engaged in a showdown with GOP leaders in the Florida Legislature over their conflicting views on immigration. The governor on Monday called lawmakers’ threat to rip him of immigration enforcement powers “bizarre.”

That followed DeSantis’ own threat to state lawmakers last week when he warned them, “It would be very, very hazardous politically” if they rebuffed his legislative demand.

NBC News national politics reporter Matt Dixon told his followers on X Tuesday that the FSA coming out to back DeSantis is a “pretty big deal.” He added that the sheriff’s organization is a “powerful group that aligns with Republicans, and has done a lot with DeSantis over the years.”

CNN's Jake Tapper cornered far-right White House policy adviser Stephen Miller, as he tried to justify the Trump administration's discretionary freeze on federal grants announced by the Office of Management and Budget — and blame the media for the public's confusion on whether they're about to lose access to critical support programs.

"So let's just walk through this, because obviously there's confusion," said Tapper. "Is this pause going to affect Medicaid?"

"It does not affect any service that the government is required to provide, does not affect any entitlement, does not affect any service to citizens, does not affect any individual benefit, any public assistance program or anything of that nature," said Miller. "So we found, after the president had issued a pause on funding to [non-governmental organizations] that were settling illegal immigrants, we found that bureaucrats at HHS were trying to funnel billions of more dollars to those resettlement agencies and try to get around the executive order. It became clear that bureaucrats were still trying to funnel unapproved discretionary grants of funds to their pet projects."

ALSO READ: Top GOPer's ‘most immediate’ priority for new committee includes probing a MAGA conspiracy

"So let's get into that, because a number of government-funded organizations — so these are organizations like Meals on Wheels, right? Their job, their mission — it's a private organization, they get grants from the federal government, they feed seniors. Meals on Wheels is currently in the dark. They don't know, does this order affect us? Does this mean we're not going to have any more funding coming in? They feed like 2 million seniors. So I'm just wondering, first of all, why a pause? An investigation, sure, I get that. Auditing? Sure. Why a pause?"

Miller dodged the question, redirecting back to his complaints about the civil service directing grants.

"Joe Biden gave just one NGO responsible for resettling illegal aliens $3 billion, with a B. $3 billion! President Trump, when he said drain the swamp, he meant it."

"Okay. I don't think anybody's taking issue with, if you find money that is being disbursed in an inappropriate way, halting it," said Tapper. "I think what the confusion is, is this seemed to a lot of groups and a lot of states, Republicans, Democrats, independents, like a very sweeping order. And there is confusion ... we just talked to Congressman Don Bacon, a Republican, a Trump supporter. We just interviewed him. He said that there was a lot of confusion."

"Created by the media, Jake," insisted Miller.

But Tapper insisted that much of the confusion and anger is within Trump's own party.

"Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said, quote, 'nobody really knows how long,' unquote, this review of these federal funds is going to last. And she said it's, quote, 'been a big challenge,' unquote, to get answers from the Trump administration. So here's an opportunity. How long is this review going to take? And when does the federal funding for these programs resume?"

Miller once again refused to answer. As Tapper repeatedly asked this question, Miller finally said, "I am sorry that the media has falsely reported on this story."

"I don't know what you're talking about in terms of false reports," shot back Tapper. "It was a broadly written executive order."

Watch the video below or at the link here.

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