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Revealing Details of Vegas Killer; Killer Prescribed Valium; Deciphering Gunman's Note; Weinstein Fired; Storm Soaks Gulf Coast. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 09, 2017 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:30:12] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Inside the mind of a killer. CNN has the only look at a deposition from a 2013 lawsuit filed by the Las Vegas shooter. In it the shooter refers to himself as the biggest video poker player in the world. This as the FBI conducts a search of his Mesquite, Nevada, home for a second time. And along the Las Vegas Strip, the trademark bright lights dimmed last night for exactly 11 minutes, the length of time the shots rang out to honor the victims and the survivors.

Our Kyung Lah is live in Las Vegas with more on what we are learning.

What can you tell us at this point?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, we are learning new this morning that "The Las Vegas Review Journal," the local paper here, is reporting that the gunman's brother is now in the city of Las Vegas. He is here hoping to help investigators, the FBI, step into the mindset of his brother. He wants to set them on the correct path, he told the newspaper.

This is happening as two sources tell us that the FBI has obtained this deposition. It's a deposition that CNN has also exclusively obtained. One of the only known records where the gunman is questioned over a period of time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAH (voice-over): Before Stephen Paddock unleashed his murderous assault on an innocent concert crowd, he called himself the biggest video poker player in the world, gambling up to a million dollars on a single night, overnight, sleeping during the day, prescribed valium for anxiousness.

These are Stephen Paddock's own words as he testified in 2013 in his lawsuit against the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. The suit stems from this moment. Security cameras catching Paddock slipping and falling in a casino walkway. In the 97-page deposition obtained by CNN, Paddock testifies about that fall and gives us fresh insight into his mind four years before the shooting.

Paddock moved from Las Vegas casino to casino, at one point staying maybe upwards of three weeks out of a month, he said. A high roller, his hotel stays were comped 95 percent of the time. That's ranged from 100 to 1,350 each time I push the button. Speaking of a peak year, asks an attorney, how many dollars are we talking? I average 14 hours a day, 365 days a year, over 200 million coin through. When Paddock says on a given night he'll bet a million dollars, an attorney replies, that's a lot of money. No, it's not.

Paddock called video poker a game of discipline. At times appearing condescending and sarcastic as he explains through his attorney why he stays sober while gambling. At the stakes I play, you want to have all your wits about you.

Paddock's home in Mesquite, Nevada, suggests an upper, middle class retired life. For easy access to a doctor, Paddock testified, he paid a yearly retainer feed to Nevada Internist Dr. Steven Winkler (ph). Paddock says Winkler prescribed his valium. Why? It's for anxiousness. Rage, aggressiveness and irritability are among the possible side effects of taking valium, according to the manufacturer of the drug.

"The Las Vegas Review Journal" reported that Dr. Winkler prescribed him valium in June of this year. CNN could not independently confirm that information.

Despite all the claims about his high-rolling ways, Paddock testified on the day he fell in the Cosmopolitan, he wore his typical clothing. I always wear black Nike sweatpants that are nylon or polyester. On his feet, black flip-flops that he wore 98 percent of the time.

Life was better before the economic meltdown, he testified, saying Vegas casinos comped less and less, meaning he visited sin city less. What happened to the economy in 2007, he said, it tanked. Las Vegas went into the gutter with a lot of other things. They quit giving away freebies. It just wasn't worth coming out here as often.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: And arbitrator ultimately found in the Cosmopolitan Hotel's favor. That's according to two sources.

Now, we did try to reach Dr. Winkler, the man who was named in this deposition as Paddock's doctor, and he did not respond to our e-mails or our calls or visits to his home.

And, Poppy, there is one other thing. We did notice a handful of times he was asked, did he have a history of mental illness, did mental illness run in his family, any addictive issues, and he always said no.

Poppy.

HARLOW: Kyung Lah, some new insight. Thank you very much for the reporting from Las Vegas for us this morning.

Joining me now to talk through all of this is law enforcement trainer, former NYPD sergeant Joseph Giacalone.

[09:35:02] Thank you so much for being with us. Let's talk about, first of all, this valium prescription. OK, there

are many Americans who take valium. One interesting thing Kyung said that I didn't know before is that one of the potential side effects is rage and aggressiveness. What questions would you ask now that you know that he was prescribed this?

JOSEPH GIACALONE, LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINER: Well, one of the interesting things of this is going to be when we get the toxicology reports back from the medical examiner to determine if there was any drugs or alcohol in his system, and if there is something that can, you know, go back to this valium. Because this could, you know, provide an investigative clue into what his mindset was that night that he did this. It's very difficult right now to go out and see exactly what -- you know, or make any type of guess about what was going on in his mind. But this could be at least a road they can go down.

HARLOW: Now last week, at the end of last week, we learned that he had this note in his hotel room that had a bunch of numbers on it. Now CNN's reporting is that we've learned from our sources the numbers represent what investigators think are essentially calculations, the distance, the trajectory it would take for the bullets from the 32nd floor of his hotel room down to where the concert is. And then weighing in on that, you had one of the first responders to this massacre on "60 Minutes" last night. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER DAVID NEWTON, LAS VEGA POLICE: He must have done the calculations or gone online or something to figure it out of what his altitude was going to be on how high up he was, how far out the crowd was going to be, and what it -- at that distance, what his -- drop of his bullet was going to be. He hadn't written out the calculations, all he had was written out the final numbers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: The planning that this shows, right, having a suite with two target points that he shot out of these different windows. Now the calculations, the distance, the trajectory, the bullets could travel. What does it tell you?

GIACALONE: Well, it tells us that there are some records that we don't know about yet. There has got to be some searches on the Internet that he did to figure out these calculations. We know he's an accountant. We know he's a smart guy. We know he's absolutely very good at playing pokers and other numbers games. So this is not out of the ordinary for somebody like this. But to be able to factor in all those different aspects, including the wind and everything else, there has to be some sort of record of his searching on the Internet to try to -- even down to the weather -- to figure out what was going on there.

HARLOW: The second search of his home in Mesquite. We know the first time they took two computers. They would have taken whatever they think could have been a clue. Why go back a second time? Typical? GIACALONE: Well, you like to do -- when you do a search warrant, you

like to get everything you want the first time around because when you go back the second time, you tend to need another search warrant. And it also could be -- you know, play into that there wasn't exactly what they wanted or maybe they said, you know, maybe we should have taken that and we didn't. So it kind of leaves a little bit of, you know, mistake here. We won't say sloppiness, but you never want to go back to a search warrant because it just -- it looks bad, especially if there's a prosecution down the road.

HARLOW: Joseph Giacalone, thank you very much for your expertise. We appreciate it. Disturbing new details to say the least.

Ahead for us, Academy Award winner Meryl Streep speaking this morning on Harvey Weinstein and the reports of his decades of sexual harassment and payouts, calling those allegations disgraceful. Much more on that ahead.

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[09:42:54] HARLOW: New this morning, Meryl Streep calls the sexual harassment and misconduct by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein disgraceful. In a statement to "The Huffington Post" she says in part she is appalled. Those of us who worked -- work he championed, like hers, and those whose good and worthy cause he supported, the intrepid women who raised their voices to expose this abuse are our heroes.

Amen to that.

Her reaction follows news that Weinstein had been fired from the company that he cofounded. Part of firing him, his brother, who sits on the board.

Joining us now, Brian Stelter, senior media correspondent, host of "Reliable Sources."

Brian, thank you for being here.

I think you and I both reacted to -- it was in your newsletter overnight, our colleague, Jake Tapper, who tweeted this. So the Miramax partners had no idea that this had been going on for decades and Weinstein paid all those settlements of his own personal money. It begs such an important question.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

HARLOW: Are they outraged and did they fire him now because they just found out or because we just found out?

STELTER: Because we just found out. That is what this is now about, Poppy, who knew what when. In the wake of Roger Ailes' ouster from Fox News a year ago --

HARLOW: Yes.

STELTER: Almost -- a little more than a year ago, other executives also followed him out. It was found that others executives at Fox knew about the behavior. The question now in Hollywood is very similar, who else knew, who looked the other way?

HARLOW: Right.

STELTER: What agents, what executives looked the other way?

There's a tweet just now from Jessica Chastain, the actress, weighing in on this saying, I'm sick of the media demanding only women speak up about harassing behavior by men. What about the men, she says? Perhaps many are afraid to look at their own behavior.

And that's the other direction this story is heading in, right, is, are there other men, perhaps men of Weinstein's age, these so-called dinosaurs of Hollywood, they were acting in these disgusting ways and are those stories also going to come out. I would be surprised if Harvey Weinstein was the only person in Hollywood --

HARLOW: Yes.

STELTER: Who was treating actresses and assistants and models this way.

HARLOW: You know, Margaret Hoover, who's on this show often, tweeted this morning, if this weren't for Gretchen Carlson and her bravery when it came to Roger Ailes, you know, we may not be having this conversation. Certainly opening the doors and encouraging other women to speak out.

[09:45:07] STELTER: Can I just say, that was only 15 months ago --

HARLOW: It was only 15 months ago.

STELTER: That Gretchen Carlson sued Roger Ailes.

HARLOW: Exactly.

STELTER: You can feel the world changing right now.

HARLOW: But -- but, you know, we have this reporting on Friday, "The Times," one of the headlines yesterday. Sort of the -- its whispers in Hollywood.

STELTER: Yes, that's right.

HARLOW: You are not hearing the mega, mega, mega a-list big stars coming out and screaming about this on Twitter and elsewhere.

STELTER: That is absolutely right.

HARLOW: Jessica is. Good for her. Meryl Streep is. Good for her. But where -- where is everyone else?

STELTER: I've heard from Judd Apatow, from Seth Rogen, that's about it. There are many a-listers in Hollywood, both men and women, who are reluctant to talk about the Weinstein scandal. Let's see if that changes in the coming days.

HARLOW: Why?

STELTER: They may feel there's no upside for them. They may week that Weinstein still does have power in Hollywood. But that -- these are cynical answers. These are not satisfying answers, Poppy.

HARLOW: Aren't -- aren't these -- I mean, Brian, there is something that is beyond upside for you. I mean there is just right and wrong. And there is what is moral and what is immoral. And there is the power of your voice when you have that platform.

STELTER: I completely agree with you. And that's why we're going to be asking and a lot of reporters are going to be asking these stars to speak out, to say something, even if they had no idea about Weinstein, even if they were as shocked as everybody else. This is a moment for leadership from Hollywood, the entertainment industry, that views itself as a cultural leader. Well, let's see what they say in the coming days. Not just the women, but the men.

HARLOW: Yes. We have to go, but, quickly, do we know if he's going to release these women -- these eight women at least from their non- disclose agreements, like "The Times" suggested he should?

STELTER: Unclear and so far he's been uncharacteristically silent.

HARLOW: Yes.

STELTER: He's had nothing so say about his firing so far.

HARLOW: Brian Stelter, thank you for the reporting.

STELTER: Thank you.

HARLOW: We appreciate it.

Ahead for us, a hospital just one of many places now being evacuated right now as a huge wildfire burns out of control in California's wine country. We'll bring you there next.

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[09:51:23] HARLOW: All right, right now, wildfires raging in California's wine country. Right now residents are fleeing in Sonoma County. Hotels, at least one hospital, are in the midst of being evacuated because of the fires nearby. Those living in half a dozen neighborhoods also told to leave immediately.

Look at these images. That is moving people out of this hospital as the flames approach. The fire has already jumped a freeway. That is significant. And the Sonoma County sheriff says residents are being taken on busses to nearby shelters. Shelters, they note, are filling up quickly.

This is happening as two wildfires are burning also in Napa County. Evacuations also underway nearby there. We'll keep a very close eye on that for you.

President Trump, meantime, taking credit for the progress in Puerto Rico's hurricane recovery. He wrote, quote, nobody could have done what I've done for Puerto Rico with so little appreciation. So much work.

Now, despite the president's remarks, the governor of Puerto Rico this morning is saying they need a big chunk of money fast and a lot of work still needs to be done. He has gone to Congress, is asking for $4 billion additional dollars in aid as he tries to get most of that aid to the hardest hit areas.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICARDO ROSSELLO, PUERTO RICO: If there is a place, a locality, that is not delivering food to the people of Puerto Rico that need it, there's going to be some hell to pay. We want to make sure that if food is being delivered, as we've been tracking it, as we've been sending it, that it gets to the hands of the people of Puerto Rico.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right. The Department of Defense now has more than 6,400 personnel on the ground helping with the relief efforts, 14,000 FEMA officials as well.

Millions set to be soaked by the remnants of Nate as it treks north this morning. But parts of the southeast are a dark, soggy mess after the storm hit land as a hurricane on Sunday. Thousands of people left without power still across the gulf. Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, all taking the brunt of Nate.

What a big difference, though, a little bit of time makes. You're looking at two different images on your screen. On the left, that's what Mobile looked like just 24 hours ago. On the right, that's what that area looked like a little bit later.

Our Ryan Young is live near the coast in Alabama with more.

So, you got thousands of people left without power. What are they saying this morning?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, about 10,000 people are still without power, but, really, they dodged a hit on this one. We talk about the storm surge that came through here. This is the area that we were standing the other day. And we saw that water come up ourselves. See can see some of that debris that's still left around here. Cleanup crews just leaving this part as they went to get another dump truck so they can start filling this up here.

Look, Water Street is just down the way there, Poppy, and that's where we were standing in two to three feet of water. We saw a shrimp. We saw fish. We even saw a jellyfish the size of a watermelon go by us in the water while we were standing there.

All that water has receded so far. But the major thing here is, there are no major injuries here or structural damage. They did have to do some rescues. About 10 people who were trapped either in their cars or in their homes. But when you think about it, this is one of those ways where they say, hey, we really dodged a big one in terms of just the storm damage that could have been left behind here because they were really worried about that storm surge.

One thing that I want to mention though, this is the port area here. We've seen a couple folks go through, but there's all this debris here. We know the Coast Guard will have to come through and make sure this channel can be reopened because there are actually cruise ships that are waiting to come back in port. There are people who are stuck on those cruise ships and there are vacationers who are in the city who can't wait to go on vacation to escape all this rain. But in the end, it seems like everyone kind of dodged a bullet on this one.

HARLOW: Ryan Young in Mobile, Alabama. Thank you for the reporting. We appreciate it.

[09:55:01] Ahead for us, a bitter battle within a single party. Republican Senator Bob Corker says the president's recklessness threatens World War III. What the president is saying back, ahead.

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HARLOW: Good morning, everyone. Top of the hour. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. So glad you're with us. John Berman has the day off.

And this morning, the gloves are off between President Trump and his fellow Republican Senator Bob Corker. Corker tells "The New York Times" that the president is treating his office like a, quote, reality show, and that president's threat against other countries could put the U.S., in Corker's words, on the path to World War III.

The latest feud all started over the weekend on Twitter where the president wrote that Corker only decided not to seek re-election after the president refused to endorse him. Corker responded calling the White House an adult day care center. We should note, Corker's spokesman tells us the president's claims are not true and, in fact, the president called Corker to urge him to run again and even offered his endorsement.

[10:00:12]