Return to Transcripts main page

EARLY START

New Details of Shooter's Meticulous Planning; Tillerson Staying Put; 3 U.S. Special Ops Troops Killed in Niger; CFPB Chief Wants Big Changes at Credit Firms. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired October 5, 2017 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities found 19 of the shooter' nearly four dozen guns of that home in Mesquite.

[05:00:04] Officials now it is clear the shooter's meticulous plan and anger that drove it developed over some time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JOE LOMBARDO, LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: More than 100 investigators have spent the last 72 hours combing through the life of 64-year-old Stephen Paddock. Stephen Paddock is a man who spent decades acquiring weapons and ammo and living a secret life, much of which will never be fully understood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RENE MARSH, CNN ANCHOR: Well, officials also say there is evidence the gunman planned to survive the attack and escape, unusual for a mass murder. Experts say most of them expect to be caught and killed. There's also new video this morning of concert goers running and police trying to manage the crowds. The moment it became apparent that they were under attack. We want to warn you this video may be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Run, go, go, go, everybody go.

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, run, keep your heads down. Go. Keep your heads down, go. Run, keep your head down.

(GUNFIRE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: It's so hard to see.

CNN's Jean Casarez live for us in Las Vegas this morning and she joins us with the latest on the investigation.

Good morning, Jean. JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave.

You know, authorities are looking at a time line of October 2016 through September 2017 because 33 weapons were purchased during that year. Remember, the total that he had was 47. So, really, the bulk of weapons were purchased beginning in October 2016.

So they want to know, and it appears as though they don't know, was there an event? Did something happen during that time?

Another time line we learned for the first time definitively last night is the time line of when the shots began and when authorities got to the 32nd floor. I think the riveting part of this is what they brought out, is that it is believed that the security guard and officers that were already on the 32nd floor that that may have stopped more shots from ringing out.

You know, let's look at the time line, because it began at 10:05. That's when the shots began coming out of his guns, he started pulling the trigger at 10:05, 10:15 they stopped. So, for 10 minutes, those shots rang out. Ten-seventeen, the first two officers arrived on the 32nd floor.

Ten-eighteen is when the security guard walked in front of his hotel room door. Remember cameras in the food cart, cameras in the cubbyhole, he had to have been looking. And that's when they say he shot at the security guard, shot him in the leg but they believe 200 rounds of ammunition ended up in that hallway. They say it's a miracle that security guard did not pass away.

After that, there were no more shots out to that crowd of 22,000 people. That's when law enforcement on the 32nd floor started going room by room. They went into the hallway. They saw the cameras on the cart.

They realized, we need SWAT and that's why they stopped. They also didn't hear more shots and at 11:20, that's when SWAT came and they made entry into the room.

The girlfriend has started talking. We only know because of her own lawyer. But she says some things that may be surprising to some, that he was a kind and gentle person, that she never dreamed that anything like this was happening or in the planning stage.

And, Dave, she also said that she went to the Philippines because he got her a ticket, a cheap ticket, and once there, wired her $100,000 for a home for she and her family. And she thought he was trying to break up with her.

BRIGGS: All right, Jean, we also understand Chief Lombardo said he believed the shooter may have had help. What is he basing that on, though?

CASAREZ: You know, that's so interesting, because he prefaced this by saying that we're having difficulty in finding the personal relationships of this man. And in the day and age we live in, most people have social media. So, it appeared as though he doesn't and then he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOMBARDO: Look at this. I mean you look at the weapon obtaining different amounts of Tannerite available. Do you think this was all accomplished on his own, self value, face value? You got to make the assumption he had to have some help at some point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: And they're really appealing to people, if you know anything, please come forward to the Las Vegas municipal police -- Dave.

BRIGGS: Yes, it's a strange thing to say when there is nothing to suggest he needed help to do this. He had nothing but time.

[05:05:01] All he did was gamble, and clearly, had a lot of cash. So, that certainly will raise some questions in the days ahead.

Jean Casarez, thanks --

CASAREZ: And then you have --

BRIGGS: Go ahead.

CASAREZ: You're right. And so, Dave, then you have to ask the girlfriend, because she was retired too, was she ever in the car? She was in the homes. She was in so many areas where that ammunition was, along with all the weapons. What does she really know?

BRIGGS: Yes, she remains the most important person in this investigation, no doubt. Jean, thanks so much.

MARSH: And, of course, with all the talk about motive, we can't forget the victims.

BRIGGS: Right.

MARSH: And 50 of the 58 victims who lost their lives in the Las Vegas massacre have now been identified, 10 more names were added to the list on yesterday.

Carly Kreibaum, a 33-year-old artist and mother of two from Sutherland, Iowa. She worked a local Walmart and went to Las Vegas with two good friends to see the concert.

BRIGGS: Steve Berger, a financial adviser from Sherwood, Minnesota, was in Vegas celebrating his 44th birthday with an old college roommate. He leaves behind three children.

MARSH: Thomas Day Jr. was at the festival with family and friends, including his four children. The 55-year-old construction worker from Corona, California, was a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan and had a tattoo of the team's logo proudly displayed on his arm and leg. BRIGGS: The Los Angeles Kings hockey team will honor Christiana

Duarte before their season opening game today. Christiana was 22. She graduated from the University of Arizona in May and just started working for the team as a fan service associate.

MARSH: Austin Davis was 29 years old. He was a pipefitter from Riverside, California. He was on a trip with friends when the bullets rained down. He loved to play softball and sing country karaoke.

BRIGGS: Fifty-seven-year-old Denise Cohen of Oxnard, California, celebrating her boyfriend's birthday at the music festival. Her son says she touched everyone she knew. She and her partner were both killed.

MARSH: Brian Fraser of La Palma, California, was a 39-year-old real estate lender who loved to hunt deep sea fish, snowboard and attended with his kids. He attended a sporting event. He recently earned his pilot's license. He died surrounded by family and friends.

BRIGGS: And Victor Link, a 55-year-old manager of a mortgage firm in California, loved golf, travel and snowboarding. He leaves behind a fiance, a son and a boss who called him the most genuine standup guy you'll ever meet.

MARSH: Fifty-year-old Laura Shipp was enjoying the concert with her 23-year-old son, Marine Reservist Corey Shipp (ph) when the gunman opened fire. Friends say Corey was the light of Laura's life. He survived. Sadly, she did not.

BRIGGS: And Chris Hazencomb, a 44-year-old Walmart cashier from Camarillo, California, shielded a female friend's body with his own when the shots rang out. He saved a mother of two. His friend who attended the festival with him says Chris was so excited to see Jason Aldean, who, of course, was playing when the shots were fired.

Those, the heartbreaking details of this shooting.

All right. Ahead, would Republicans really take concrete steps on guns right now? New suggestions that they just might.

And we'll discuss the secretary of state trying to firm up his rocky relationship with the president after calling him a moron. How the president responded, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:12:40] BRIGGS: All right. Welcome back.

President Trump visited Las Vegas along with the first lady to offer comfort and gratitude to victims, families and first responders. After return to go the White House last night, the president tweeted: On behalf of a grateful nation, thank you to all of the first responders who saved countless lives in Las Vegas on Sunday night.

Back in Washington, there's possible movement on gun regulation as some Republican lawmakers are signaling a willingness, a slight willingness to consider a band on what's called bump stocks. That, of course, the device used by the Las Vegas shooter that enables a semiautomatic automatic weapon to fire as rapidly as a fully automatic.

Let's bring in CNN contributor, Salena Zito, a reporter for "The Washington Examiner", a columnist for "The New York Post".

Good morning, Salena.

Let's talk about this potential small movement on gun legislation, two different narratives. One, here's one. Show NRA who's boss. Breitbart has a title this morning. Cornyn caved, because John Cornyn suggested he might be willing to move on these bump stocks. Not sure what that would truly accomplish in the long run but is there any agreement on any gun legislation.

SALENA ZITO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think of any gun legislation and putting any restrictions in place, this is one that probably would get, you know, a healthy amount of support behind it. It's not a device in a most people would need to use, in any of the sports activities that, you know, include using a gun. The whether it's hunting, whether it's target practicing, you know, whatever the case may be.

So, this could be something where you could show -- you could gather, you know, a decent amount of people on both sides of the aisle together and get something passed. I don't think it would get a ton of pushback from the NRA on this either.

MARSH: So, Salena, the president has spoken very little about gun control in light of all of this. We actually have some sound when he's asked about it. Let's take a listen and we'll talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Mr. President, does American have a gun violence problem?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not going to talk about that today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: All right. So he says now is not the time so focus on gun control. But as we said, on Capitol Hill, they are starting that conversation.

[05:15:00] You have members of Congress like Cornyn, a Republican, who is signaling that he might be willing to ban these devices, the device used in the shooting that allowed him to fire off so many shots.

How does this all play out, do you think, when it comes to gun control? Because we hear this conversation come up all the time after these mass shootings.

ZITO: Right. MARSH: Do you think this might be the chance where we get some headway?

ZITO: Well, yes. I do think this is a chance where we do get some headway, but I think that for a president that gets a ton of criticism for how he reacts to things, or whether -- or he's answering a question or he just blurts it out, this was a smart move on his part. One of the things that people were really upset about after unfortunately the amount of mass shootings that we've had, particularly under President Obama's presidency, was that it immediately went to gun control and immediately went to politics.

And so, for him to step back for a moment, and knowing what a staunch supporter he is of the NRA, I thought it was very presidential of him and very important. A lot of these families still haven't identified their family -- victims of what happened in Las Vegas, and it's probably best to wait until that's behind those families, and their emotional concerns right now than it is to talk politics about guns, at least in the presidential podium.

BRIGGS: Right, from the presidential podium. I agree with you there, because on the flip side, other after shootings, there was an immediate politicization on the other side of banning Muslims. But we don't have time to get into that.

Let's talk about Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, who according to NBC News, a report CNN can now confirm, he called president a, quote, moron, and had a hastily arranged news conference yesterday to explain what happened.

Here's the secretary of state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REX TILLERSON, SECRETARY OF STATE: There's never been a consideration in my mind to leave. I serve at the appointment of the president, and I'm here for as long as the president feels I can be useful to achieving his objectives.

REPORTER: Could you address the main headline of this story that you called the president a moron? And if not, where do you think these reports --

TILLERSON: I'm not going to deal with petty stuff like that. I mean, this is -- this is what I don't understand about Washington. Again, I'm not from this place. But the places I come from, we don't deal with in a kind of petty nonsense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The president called the NBC News report fake news. It is clearly not, Salena, based on that reaction from Rex Tillerson. But to agree with what -- I mean, the world most of us come from, everyone's called morons. How does that get out and what does it say to you that that was leaked? ZITO: Well, I mean we've been discussing this since November 9 of

last year, right? I mean, leaks coming out of this White House or before it was a White House and it was a transition team has been like a fire hose in a colander, right? It just pours out of every hole.

And so, I'm sure presidents have called their cabinet secretaries worse names and I'm sure cabinet secretaries called presidents worse names. The uniqueness of this moment is that it's out there. And the word moron is said 92 times every day for the next, you know, couple of days because this got leaked out, and that's what people are talking about.

You know, the fault is right here is the leaker. That he called him that or that Trump called him something is probably not unusual. You know, these are intense heated times. That it gets out, that's unusual.

MARSH: You know, what is also unusual and interesting to watch is another Republican speaking out about the president. This is Corker -- I'm quoting, he says I think Secretary Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chief of Staff John Kelly, those are the people that help separate our country from chaos.

Very interesting words from the senator as he, you know, has already said he doesn't plan on running again. What does that tell you about where things stand? Also the view of the president who's supposed to be the leader of the Republican Party?

ZITO: Well, we can argue about whether he's the leader of the Republican Party because I've always thought that he's not really that much of a Republican, right?

But the thing about Corker is sort of very similar to the thing about John McCain. These are men who neither of them have any political ambitions, you know, going forward. So that gives them the freedom to be a little more honest and a little more blunt about how they see whether it's fellow senators or whether it's the president. And I don't think we're going do see that stop until Corker's term ends at the end of 2018.

[05:20:05] BRIGGS: This is someone who's considered to be a secretary of state who's already questioned his competence and stability.

All right. Salena Gomez, we'll check with you on in about 30 minutes, thanks.

Salena Zito, did I say Salena Gomez? Yes, that moron. See. My producer calls me a moron four or five times a day. It's a term of endearment around here on CNN.

MARSH: It is.

BRIGGS: We don't need a leak. It happens.

MARSH: On air in front of the nation. Well, coming up, Equifax's former CEO is depending the company on

Capitol Hill. But will its historic breach mean more oversight for the entire industry? We have details coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:25:10] MARSH: Well, three U.S. special operations soldiers have been killed in an attack in southwest Niger, two others wounded. A joint U.S. Nigerian patrol came under fire near the Mali-Niger border. The two wounded U.S. troops were evacuated. Their condition is being described as stable this morning. The U.S. military has maintained a small presence in the northwest African country, advising troops as they battle the terrorists groups Boko Haram and a branch of al Qaeda.

BRIGGS: Equifax's former CEO Richard Smith on Capitol Hill this week, not only depending Equifax after his data breach, but the entire credit reporting industry, companies like Equifax profit from selling consumer's data with little outside oversight. So, will this lead to more regulation?

Our own Christine Romans recently spoke to Richard Cordray, the head of the U.S. consumer watchdog agency. He says it should.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD CORDRAY, DIRECTOR, CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU: We've seen a very botched situation here and a botched response by Equifax and they're going to have to be subject to ongoing monitoring, which they're not used to, but they should welcome.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: What do regulators want to do? They want to make sure there's an in-house watch dog and in-house regulator for this credit bureau?

CORDRAY: We think that's very important. We think, frankly, we don't have the right legal framework in place here and I think we're going to all need to work with Congress, and these companies are not going to be able to just do what they think is best and just be on their own.

They're going to have to be accountable to someone, going to have to be accountable for oversight and monitoring. That's a change that's going to have to occur here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The Equifax hack exposed the data of 145.5 million Americans. More regulation under the Trump administration, that would be something.

MARSH: Yes, that industry is very - has very little regulations surrounding it.

And coming up, the Las Vegas gunman didn't just plan an all-out assault. He was planning to escape. That, and more of what police are now revealing about the attacker, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)