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Don Lemon Tonight

Russia Investigators Interviews Reince Priebus; Trump Says He Will Kill Iran Nuke Deals; Trump Changes His Tune, We Will Always Be With Puerto Rico; President Trump Silent On Deaths Of Four U.S. Soldiers In Niger; New Developments On Las Vegas Mass Shooting. Aired 11-Midnight ET

Aired October 13, 2017 - 23:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:00:00] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN, the most trusted name in news.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: This is CNN tonight, I'm Don Lemon. It is 11:00 p.m. on the east coast. We're live with breaking news tonight. Former chief of staff Reince Priebus answering questions from Russia investigators. We'll have more on that in just a moment. Plus President Trump working to dismantle the legacy of his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, putting the Iran nuclear deal on the chopping block.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our participation can be canceled by me as President at any time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Joining me now is Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN Fareed Zakaria's GPS. Fareed, you know it's Friday, and here we are with more Russia news. Reince Priebus spent the day talking Russia with the special counsel. His attorney saying that he is happy to do it. But do you think Mueller's investigation casts a cloud over this administration indefinitely?

FAREED ZAKARIA, FAREED ZAKARIA GPS SHOW HOST: Well, look, it's a serious ongoing investigation, and I think the important thing we have to remember is what we all hope to get out of it is an understanding of what Russia did, how it did it and how to stop it from happening again. Because this is sometimes portrayed as entirely about the last election, about what happened, you know, we're all interested in that. But the really interesting thing that we got to make sure is that Russia can't do it again, in fact, that no country can do it again.

We do need to figure out what happened, how did it happen, how did they know what to do? How did they know where to do what they were doing? One piece of what Mueller's investigation I hope looks at is we understand that the Russians are good at cyber, but how did they understand what precincts in Ohio to go into, what demographics to send those Facebook messages to, what part of the America electoral vote to suppress. So there's a whole bunch of these questions about the nature of the targeting that are important as well. And the goal has to be to make sure it doesn't happen again.

LEMON: We know that Robert Mueller has a long list of other churn and former insiders that he is going to talk to as well including Sean Spicer, Holpix, I think he may have already spoken. What about the statement that was written on air force one about Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with the kremlin-linked lawyer during the campaign?

ZAKARIA: I think if you look at some of the stuff on the face of it, it's pretty clear that it is an attempt to -- I don't want to use a loaded phrase like obstruct justice, but it was an attempt to impede an investigation that was moving in a direction that President Trump didn't want it to move. Now, whether that falls under the technical definition of obstruction of justice or not, I don't know, but clearly President Trump has admitted it himself. The reason he got rid of Comey was he didn't like the way he was pursuing the Russia investigation.

So my guess is Mueller is going to try to flesh that out and understand how purposeful it was, you know, how much planning went into it. How determined the President was to impede that investigation. That piece of it, frankly, when I look at what's on the public record, it seems pretty clear, and, as I say, the exhibit a is, of course, Donald Trump's interview with Lester Holt in which he said, yeah, that is why I got rid of James Comey.

LEMON: Look, can we talk about Iran? The President did speak about something which I think does give pause to a lot of Americans. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We should not take lightly its sinister vision for the future. The regime's two favorite chants are death to America and death to Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Was he right to decertify the deal with Iran?

ZAKARIA: No. He is right that Iran has a sinister ideology. He is right that it is a destabilizing country in the region. So was the Soviet Union, so was Mao's China, yet we found way to do arms control deals with them, because what you're trying to do is stabilize one dangerous, very dangerous element of a relationship between adversaries. Iran is not a friend of the United States. That is why we don't want a nuclear armed Iran. It is precisely because Iran is dangerous, because it has these nefarious intentions that you want to make sure it doesn't have nuclear weapons, and the deal did that by President Trump's own admission. Iran is abiding by the letter of the deal. By his Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense and chairman of the joint chiefs admission, Iran is adhering to its obligations.

There are other problems, but you know, just imagine if Vladimir Putin had said, I'm going to abrogate all the arms control treaties I have between the United States and Russia, because the United States invaded Iraq and I thought that was destabilizing. [23:05:11] You know, the basis of international order is that when you

make a deal on a specific issue, if that issue -- if both parties are adhering to their side of the bargain, the deal holds. You can't suddenly say because of something completely unrelated to the deal that was never part of the deal that I'm upset about I'm going to abrogate this deal. It would be the end of international order if every country were to do what the United States just did.

LEMON: Can you drill down on that more? What are the ramifications of our relationships with other countries with this move, Fareed?

ZAKARIA: Let's start about thinking about North Korea. We are clearly trying very hard to get China and South Korea and Japan and North Korea to understand that we've got to come up with some kind of arrangement where the North Koreans make some concession on their nuclear program. Perhaps we give them some assurances, that would be an amazing grand bargain. Again President Trump has talked about it himself. What is the chance we're going to get a deal like that now? Zero. Because what we've just said to the North Koreans is, hey, you could make a deal with the United States and you could have it sealed, signed, delivered, two years from now the United States might just upend the whole deal, because we didn't like it or didn't like something else you were doing or we just had a change in the administration and the President decided he wanted to unravel everything that the prior President had done.

It sends a terrible signal to North Korea. Think of what it does to every country with which we have an agreement of some kind, because every country can only adhere to their part of the agreement. They're not only obligations to make nice to the United States on everything under the sun. And so I think in a sense, really, we have not thought through the international ramifications of this. If every country were to do what the United States just did, there would be no international order. Everyone would be abrogating every agreement they don't like for totally unrelated seasons.

LEMON: It sets a really bad precedent. I want to move on to talk about Senator Bob Corker, that interview with "the Washington Post." he talked about Rex Tillerson and said you cannot publicly castrate your own Secretary of State without giving yourself that binary choice. The tweets you raise tension in the region and it's irresponsible but the first part, the castration of Tillerson that I'm most exercised about. So Corker is the person working closely with the Secretary of State on Iran and what happens with him next. How does this play out?

ZAKARIA: I have to say, I think we have -- in this administration we have seen the use of more colorful language than anywhere else, like moron, castrate, dotard, I want to point out the rich vocabulary here is kind of fun for all of us observers. Look, it's terrible for Tillerson, but it also signals something I think we've known that there really does not seem to be any desire or impetus to a diplomacy in this administration. You can't have a Secretary of State who is going around trying to negotiate when you undercut him in exactly the way Bob Corker was saying. So you have to ask what is Tillerson doing, what is the point of

having all these meetings, trying to reach out to the South Koreans to the Japanese, signal to the North Koreans that maybe we want to have some kind of diplomatic engagement. None of it will go anywhere because Trump undercuts you at every stage. I think there's again one of the questions we've always had is why are people who are clearly men of honor, women of honor, competent, have real lives, have had real regiments, why they're putting up with this? Because what's clear with Tillerson is he is now, without any question to my mind, the most ineffective Secretary of State in a generation.

LEMON: Wow.

ZAKARIA: Does he really want to go down with that as his -- you know, that written on his tombstone? I think it might be better to resign as a matter of principle, register that you think diplomacy is important. It's unclear to me why he continues to -- he is going to these foreign capitals. Nobody's paying any attention to him because they know the President doesn't pay any attention to him.

LEMON: Speaking of being diplomatic, there are many who think the President hasn't been so diplomatic when it comes to Puerto Rico and FEMA after saying that FEMA couldn't stay in Puerto Rico forever. President Trump said this morning he said we'll always be with the wonderful people of Puerto Rico. Does it seem like he fails to see these people as Americans?

ZAKARIA: You cannot -- you can't help but come to that conclusion, Don. It took five days for any senior official to get to Puerto Rico. Immediately the minute President Trump started dealing with it he starts pointing out that they have high debt obligations and things like that, which is true, but it's like when a house is on fire, you don't start pointing out that there's a mortgage on the house and that that is unaffordable. You save people, you save lives, you show empathy for the people being devastated by the natural disaster they're in.

[23:10:25] Then again the double standard where there are going to be federal funds, forces, bureaucrats in various senses troops in Houston, in Florida for many, many months as there were after Katrina, why is he signaling to Puerto Rico that, you know, we're not going to be able to be here forever. We've got the get out. Why that double standard? And it's sad to say, but obviously there is this fundamental difference. Puerto Ricans are non-voting Americans and in some sense that seems to make a difference. Maybe there's more to it than just that, but the difference in -- if you think about the way the President handles Texas and Florida on the one hand and Puerto Rico on the other, it's pretty terrible.

LEMON: Fareed Zakaria, always appreciate it. Thank you.

ZAKARIA: A pleasure.

LEMON: Don't miss Fareed's interview with Hillary Clinton on Fareed Zakaria GPS, Sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Eastern. When we come back, 91 percent of Puerto Rico is still without power. Conditions so bad 36,000 people have fled to Florida where their votes change everything in the state that was crucial to President Trump's victory.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:16:12] LEMON: President Trump tweeting about Puerto Rico this morning promising to always be with the people there. Just a few hours later telling reporters this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Most important on Puerto Rico is their electric plants are essentially gone. Now, they were gone before the hurricane. They were in bankruptcy, they owed $9 billion. I think it was $9 billion. But the plants, as you know, the electric was a disaster. After the storm even more so. We have to help them get the plants rebuilt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Joining me now is CNN's Leyla Santiago in San Juan for us tonight. Leyla hello to you. Tell us what the situation is like in Puerto Rico tonight.

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The majority of the island, Don, without power. A third without water. You know, so many are still waiting for that power to cut back on. Only 9 percent has been restored. You flip that around, that means 91 percent without power. Even where we are right now at the convention center which is the command post for the operation in recovery efforts, they do have power, but it is not reliable. They're going back and forth between generators and power as the rest of the island waits sort of in the darkness at night. In the meantime, as we head out outside of San Juan and visit people in the western parts of the island, more remote areas, there are elderly that haven't been able to get the medications they need. Mothers concerned because they don't know how they will feed their babies beyond the next few days. So FEMA aid is moving, but still, if you talk to the people outside of San Juan, it's still not enough, Don.

LEMON: Not fast enough, yeah. Why is the power situation getting worse? How is that happening?

SANTIAGO: So overnight, because, yes, the percentage of power restored did go down. Overnight there was some sort of a failure in the central system. That is how the government explained it. When you ask them long-term what is that long-term goal, they will tell you that by the end of the month, they want 25 percent of power to be restored. So that still leaves a good chunk in the dark on a long- term basis.

LEMON: So the House Speaker Paul Ryan toured the island today. What message did he bring to the people of Puerto Rico?

SANTIAGO: Very interesting words that he chose today, Don. He said this is a humanitarian disaster. He went on to highlight the $36 billion aid package that the house passed last night. Then he also said -- he made a commitment. This is not the first aid package and it will not be the last. So sort of a change in tone from President Trump's visit. Many people saying that the house speaker was engaged in appreciating his message today.

LEMON: Leyla Santiago in San Juan for us this evening. Thank you very much, Leyla.

SANTIAGO: You bet.

LEMON: Now, I want to bring in two men who have the ear of Americans, Sirius/XM host Joe Madison and in this corner syndicated radio talk show host Joe Fredericks. Gentlemen thank you. Thanks for coming on, John, Fredericks. Sorry. John Frederick's. John you heard that the situation in Puerto Rico actually getting worse. The President sending mixed signals about his intentions to help those Americans rebuilt. Does he understand how dire this situation is?

JOHN FREDERICKS, HOST, SYNDICATED TALK RADIO: Yeah, Don, I think so. The President has made tremendous effort with FEMA. We've got over 12,000 U.S. personnel there on the ground, generators coming in, the United States people have donated millions of dollars in many different ways. We've got the aid coming in. He has done everything that he could do.

[23:20:00] But I think what the President pointed out today is that some of the problems in Puerto Rico go beyond the hurricane, hurricane Maria. They had a grid system that was not upgraded for a very long time. This was a disaster waiting to happen. It's going to take some time. I think the President also believes in accountability. The government of Puerto Rico has to be accountable for some of the issues that have gone on there that they have not addressed financially, they've not made the investment. As far as the mayor of San Juan coming out in her Fidel Castro outfit the other day blaming Trump for everything under the sun, look, she is obviously running for governor. She can't get out of the way of any camera in order to get P.R. for herself. Here's the question with the mayor of San Juan. She is not provided a single solution. If she got on CNN and said, look --

LEMON: We've got to let Joe get in.

FREDERICKS: These are the five things that we have to do, five tangible suggestions that will aid the people of Puerto Rico, one, two, three, four, five, give me these, that would be something else. All she does is complain in order to --

LEMON: I don't know what her outfit has to do -- I don't know how this became a rant against the mayor.

JOE MADISON, SIRIUS XM: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you, Don. How petty can you be when you live on an island as you just heard someone say this is a humanitarian disaster and you're talking about how someone is dressed when you have people on that island who right now are drinking tainted water, disease is on the rise and the reality is that I think -- and I've said this on the air and most of my listeners have agreed, that if the United States treated this like -- and I'm going to say it, treat it like it's a war. You know how we move troops and material into a country when there is war? We just saw the Vietnam ken burns piece and how helicopters and troops and material were moved into places where there was nothing. This is what you do in Puerto Rico. But you do not, you do not pour salt on open wounds, and that is exactly what John just did.

LEMON: John, I mean there's no electricity. She is wearing a hat. Maybe she can't do her hair. Maybe that is the only clean clothing she has is that outfit. Do you want to take that back about her outfit?

FREDERICKS: Yes, I will take that back. I will grant you that, but I will say this. She has come on TV over and over and over criticizing President Trump and the Trump administration for what she says is an inadequate response to the humanitarian disaster that is going on in Puerto Rico. She has yet to give a single concrete suggestion.

LEMON: She is not the only one there. People there on the ground who are saying the same thing. The people who live there and also people who have gone there to help.

FREDERICKS: A human disaster.

LEMON: Who are saying the same thing about the response that from what the President is saying is complete opposite of what is actually happening on the ground.

MADISON: Why are we worrying about -- wait a minute. Why are we worrying about hurting the feelings of the President of the United States when we're talking about children who don't have food, seniors who don't have medicine. Think about what we're doing up here, man. We're looking at an island where 91 percent of the people don't have electricity. Right now we're in a bright studio. They're in the dark. And you think I'm going to sit here and worry about Donald Trump's feelings? Give me a break.

FREDERICKS: Who is talking about his feelings?

MADISON: You just did. Oh, because she is criticizing Donald Trump. He is a big boy. He can handle himself.

FREDERICKS: And the administration --

MADISON: Who cares? Who cares!

FREDERICKS: Give me some solution because the --

LEMON: John, in an interview with me just --

FREDERICKS: Give some suggestion.

MADISON: Treat it like you treat war. When we're at war, we move -- we move earth and heaven.

LEMON: She offered suggestions. She said they needed more water, they needed more supply, they need to get the electricity back up. She is offered some suggestions. She doesn't understand why they can't get the supplies and the suggestions that we want to Puerto Rico, which is not that far from the United States. I mean, we've got a big arsenal here of not only big military but also services, emergency services to help out. Americans.

MADISON: Treat it like a war.

FREDERICKS: The administration has flown in truck drivers, they've flown in water. It's a very difficult situation there. But the reason we're having this discussion is because Trump and the Trump administration's response is being blamed for some kind of inadequacy in how they're handling Puerto Rico. So what the President is saying --

[23:25:02] LEMON: Yeah, that is the point. They're not doing a great job in handling Puerto Rico and they're saying that they are. They're not there. They don't live there. The people who are on the ground are saying that they're not doing a great job. So essentially they're not telling the truth. And maybe you don't want to believe that, but I believe the army of correspondents who are there, the army of military people who are there, the army of emergency workers who are there, the tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans who live there and who have fled who are saying that the relief effort has not been adequate at least on the part of the Americans. Why wouldn't you believe those people? Why wouldn't you believe tens of thousands of people instead of one person whose reputation is on the line, of course he is going to defend himself.

FREDERICKS: It's the entire United States response apparatus that is being blamed. We have 12,000 FEMA people there.

LEMON: Maybe we need 20,000, maybe we need 40,000.

FREDERICKS: Maybe we do need 20,000. But it's not like -- look, Don, we wouldn't be having this discussion if the argument was what do we need to do in order to make this work, right? What the argument is the whole premise of tonight's piece is Donald Trump has failed Puerto Rico --

LEMON: That is what the mayor and the people there, John, are saying.

FREDERICKS: That is what they're saying because they're politicizing it.

MADISON: Gentlemen --

LEMON: They're saying --

FREDERICKS: Politicizing the whole issue.

LEMON: Go on, go on.

MADISON: Please, let me get a word in just edgewise for a moment here. Look, one of the problems you have in the sense we're talking about words, you know, the President of the United States made a serious mistake when he said we can't be there forever. First of all, no one expects FEMA to be there forever. What you do in a situation like this is that you give people hope, and the hope is we'll be there for as long as it's necessary. That is what people in a disaster wants to hear. They don't want to hear as if somehow they are a burden. And that is what is coming across. The people of Puerto Rico are not a burden. And I'll again if this were a hot war -- and I'm sorry to keep going by this -- we would move heaven and earth. So let's go to war against mother nature and what she did and then worry about the infrastructure after we feed people and save people. But quit bringing up what it was like before the hurricane. That is the most ridiculous argument that we can present.

LEMON: All right. Stay with me, both of you. When we come back, the President taking aim at NFL players for what he calls disrespecting the national anthem, but if he is so adamant about respect for the military why hasn't he spoken out about the four U.S. Soldiers who lost their lives in Niger?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:32:22] LEMON: President Trump has yet to say anything publicly about the deaths last week of four American soldiers who were ambushed by ISIS fighters in the African nation of Niger. Back with me now Joe Madison and John Fredericks. John, October 4th, four American troops were ambushed and killed by terrorists in Africa. Here are their names, Staff sergeant Dustin Wright, Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Johnson, Staff Sergeant Bryan Black and Sergeant La David Johnson. President Trump has spoken or tweeted -- hasn't spoken or tweeted one word about their death. Why is Trump silent about the sacrifice of these brave men?

FREDERICKS: Well, he shouldn't be, Don. He should be tweeting about them. And he should be offering the nation some attention to these people. Don, there's a bigger problem here, and the real problem is we have four Americans coming home in body bags. We've got a war in Afghanistan that we've been in for now 17 years. The President just reauthorized another 5,000 troops. We have no AUMF, no authorization of military force whatsoever. This thing, people and the President himself have become simply callous to the fact that we're in these perpetual wars that go on forever and our young men and women come home in body bags, without arms and without legs and we blow it off. The President should be front and center, front and center and understanding that we're in these conflicts all over the globe for no reason, with no authority.

LEMON: More to the point, Joe, and I know you want to weigh in, since October 4th when they died the President has tweeted 87 times, 22 times about the media or fake news, 10 times about tax reform, 6 times about Los Angeles and Puerto Rico. 4 times alone about Senator Bob Corker but not a single tweet about these slain soldiers.

MADISON: And here's the common thread. Every last one, especially those multiple tweets, it's always when he has been attacked. This man is I, I, I just like Puerto Rico, what I've done, not what we've done, or what the country has done, but what I've done. I agree with John. He should do it. I think there's also a problem there, John, with his staff, because it's up to the staff to bring this to his attention. It's up to the people, the Department of Defense, the Secretary of whatever state. He hasn't said anything.

[23:35:00] No one in his administration has said anything. Now I hate to say on this airway that maybe it's because it's Africa, but you know what? My audience thinks that has a lot to do with it. But the common thread is whenever someone talks about this man, whenever he gets his feelings hurt, he'll be up tonight tweeting us.

LEMON: At the value voters summit today President Trump talked about patriotism and the flag. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We treasure our freedom. We are proud of our history. We support the rule of law and the incredible men and women of law enforcement.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERS)

We celebrate our heroes, and we salute every American who wears the uniform.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERS)

We respect our great American flag.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: It is important to Remember that on October 8th, just days after the deaths of these green berets with Trump's blessing that the Vice President staged a walkout from the Indianapolis colts game over players kneeling during the national anthem. If he feels so strongly about the NFL players what they're doing during the national anthem, why wouldn't he be talking about the green berets killed in action? Because that is certainly saluting the military.

MADISON: Let me go first with this and that is because -- and I'll say this hashtag he is a cafeteria patriot. You know, what he does, he picks and chooses that which he thinks symbolizes patriotism. He is a cafeteria patriot. And the reality is those players who take a knee high school students who take a knee, they're just as patriotic as the founders of this country who stood up and protested against an entire king and a country. So patriotism comes in all forms, and maybe if he was so patriotic, he would have served when he had an opportunity to defend this flag.

LEMON: John?

FREDERICKS: Joe's got 50 percent of it right. I want to get back to your last segment.

LEMON: But I want you to respond to this point, though.

FREDERICKS: Give me ten seconds. Just give me ten seconds. Joe, when you said his staff isn't doing anything to make him honor these men and women, that is because his staff is completely dominated by neocons that perpetuate these wars. So bringing attention to people dying brings attention to the wars.

MADISON: Well, it's his staff. He is the one that selected them.

LEMON: Right. Go on.

(LAUGHTER)

FREDERICKS: We don't -

MADISON: and he doesn't have a problem firing them.

LEMON: The national anthem and the green berets, so why is he obsessed with that and to Joe's point what real patriotism is. It's not wrapping yourself in the flag. As a matter of fact, you're not supposed to wrap yourself in the flag.

FREDERICKS: If you get to the football players, my family and I were going to Redskins game in Orlando Sunday. I want to enjoy the football game with my family. My 13-year-old is going. We are fired up. We are football fans.

LEMON: They're not kneeling during the football game, they're playing football.

FREDERICKS: My family and everybody else in that stadium in Washington is going to stand up for the national anthem.

MADISON: No, they won't. Because if I'm there, I'm not going to stand.

FREDERICKS: The fans are going to stand up.

MADISON: No, they won't. Everybody is not going to -- hey, look, look, I'm from Washington. I guarantee you everybody is not going to stand.

FREDERICKS: So out of touch with this.

LEMON: There are going to be people at the concession stand, people in the bathroom.

MADISON: People drinking a beer.

LEMON: People drinking a beer, people walking to the stand. People walking from their cars.

MADISON: Come on, John.

LEMON: Thank you, everyone.

FREDERICKS: They want to honor the flag --

LEMON: We shouldn't have to do it anyway. It's not a military event.

FREDERICKS: You guys are so far off base. This is why Trump -- LEMON: New developments and investigation to the Las Vegas massacre

police changing the timeline again. We're going to bring you the latest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:43:03] LEMON: New developments and investigation to the Las Vegas mass shooting, police again revising the timeline of the October 1st massacre that killed 58 people and wounded hundreds more. Let's bring in CNN senior national correspondent Kyung Lah. Kyung good evening to you. Why are officials once again changing the timeline of when the shots were first actually fired?

KYUNG LAH, SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, the investigators are saying what the sheriff is saying he is thinking of it more as correcting the timeline. The last time we spoke to the sheriff, the last news conference he had before today, he said that the security guard at Mandalay bay had been shot at 9:59 p.m. And then there was a six-minute gap, then the mass shooting happened. Well, 9:59, according to the sheriff today, that still stands, but here's what has changed. The circumstances. At 9:59 the sheriff says a security guard tried to enter a stairwell door on the 32nd floor that doorway was barricaded. He radioed down and that was noted at that time, 9:59. Then he had to go to a higher floor then made his way down towards the gunman's suite. That was about 10:05, about six minutes later, that is when he was shot. That is the latest information, the sheriff says. Then the mass shooting happened. Just yesterday Mandalay bay, MGM had disputed that six-minute gap saying it was more of a 40-second gap. The sheriff today agreeing with MGM saying that, as this investigation unfolds, things will change. Here's what the sheriff said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERRIFF JOE LOMBARDO, LAS VEGAS POLICE: There is no conspiracy between the FBI, between LMPD and the MGM reference this investigation. The dynamics and the size of this investigation requires to us go through voluminous amounts of information in order to draw an accurate picture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[23:45:08] LAH: Some of that material that they're going through, Don, it's hours of video, surveillance video, iPhone video, cell phone video, talking to a number of witnesses. 1800 interviews, some 2,000 leads. All of this adds up to an evolving timeline. Don?

LEMON: Kyung Lah investigators are clearing up this timeline or revising it, as you say, are they any closer the a possible motive?

LAH: Yes, that is what's frustrating through all of this. Every single day that we speak to investigators out here, they keep saying they don't have a motive. This is unlike anything that they have ever seen. Any time they do some sort of a crime, there's some type of electronic footprint, something that is left behind. Here they don't really have anything yet. The sheriff says an autopsy has been conducted on the gunman. On visual inspection, they looked at his brain, there's nothing there that suggests some sort of abnormality just at least to the eye. Don, they are going to take microscopic samples of that brain to have that investigated a bit further, because right now they just don't have anything obvious as of yet.

LEMON: Kyung Lah in Las Vegas, thank you so much. When we come back, what does this new information tell us about the worst mass shooting in modern American history? Our expert in law enforcement and legal analyst will break it down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:50:16] LEMON: Las Vegas police again revising the timeline of the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. Now saying the gunman shot a hotel security guard around the time he began firing on the crowd, not six minutes earlier. The sheriff defending the work of his department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOMBARDO: The word incompetent has been brought forward, and I am absolutely offended with that characterization. This is a very dynamic event, very big event. Thousands of people involved. Humans involved in documentation.

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LEMON: Here to discuss, Chris Swecker, former FBI Assistant Director for the investigation division. CNN Legal Analyst Mark O'Mara a Criminal Defense Attorney, gentlemen, good evening to you. Mark, you first. You've been following this story since the start. What was your reaction when you heard the sheriff's voice? He is clearly very emotional.

MARK O'MARA, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, absolutely, for a number of reasons. I doubt he is slept very much in the past week. And then, of course, we know that his department has sort of been under this attack, because people always question what law enforcement is doing and whether or not they're doing it quick enough. Let me tell you, LMPD has done a phenomenal job. Those people have put themselves in the line of danger and it was basically a war zone. But I do challenge them for this. Because there is one issue that I think needs to be looked at. When we first thought that six minutes was there, that was devastating, but the issue still remains of this. We know that the murderer was a high roller, what's called a whale in the parlance of casinos. The real question that I have that I challenge Mandalay bay to be transparent with and the cops to focus is what kind of deference he was given. Why was he given a key to a freight elevator. Why was he given the type of deference that may have allowed him to set up the arsenal that he set up? That is going to be the question. We may never know why he did this, but the how is very intriguing, and that how is going to be determined by what he is done the few days before when he was in the middle of what is basically a videotaped fortress that he was able to warned through with the type of arsenal he was able to. LEMON: Chris, it's now 12 days since the shooting. Wow, 12 days, it

seems like it's just a couple days ago since that shooting. We're finally getting a complete timeline of what happened during those crucial moments before that gunman opened fire. What does this tell you about how this investigation is being handled so far?

CHRIS SWECKER, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE DIVISION: You know, well, first I do not want to armchair quarterback, and I don't want to be perceived as being critical of the sheriff or the department. I'll just say at the outs that when you're an on scene commander you're trained to do a couple of things. One thing is to be objective, delegate effectively and the third is get some rest and I think the sheriff is overwhelmed and over wrought right now and he needs to step back and allow a spokesperson to take over at this point. As far as the details, the timeline, I'm not too troubled by the detail about the six minutes. I think he is explained that away.

The big one was when the original timeline was a security guard showed up after the shooting started. We now know that wasn't the case. So that now basically lays out a scenario where he didn't stop shooting, because of an intervention by law enforcement. He stopped shooting for some other reason. Perhaps he killed himself. And I think there are times when you have to step back and stop letting these little details come out in drips and drabs and wait for the broader context. And I think from the very beginning I think they've been driven out these little details when they should have been waiting for a broader picture to emerge.

LEMON: Yes. And the Sheriff only - I agree, I think he is doing a great job, but it's such an emotional and draining story. Of course we all want him to get rest and we can all see that they've been working really hard. The sheriff only revealed this exchange after MGM put out a statement saying that the sheriff's timeline was not accurate. What does that tell you about the investigation and how different factions are working together?

SWECKER: Well, clearly MGM is concerned about their liability. I'll put my lawyer hat on. And I know the head of security there. He is a former colleague of mine. And they've looked at that timeline very carefully. And I think they felt like when the six-minute gap was there, that, you know, the inevitable avalanche of lawsuits are going to come in and the finger would be pointing at them for not calling the police much sooner. So I think they felt like they had to get out there very quickly and get the information out there as to why that six-minute gap really didn't exist.

LEMON: Mark, put on your lawyer hat because you are all lawyer. You say what?

[23:55:04] O'MARA: I've been contacted by some of the families about this situation and what they want are answers and transparency, mainly from Mandalay bay. Certainly if they will give us everything they have, and they have an enormous amount of information. Get it to law enforcement. These family deserve answers the nation deserves answers. And right now the Mandalay bay has most of those answers in their files.

LEMON: Thank you, gentlemen. Have a great weekend. We'll be right back.

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LEMON: Despite the President's battles with the NFL, the passion that millions of Americans have for football still runs deep. This week's CNN hero is sharing that love of the game with kids who don't get to experience of the excitement of the grid arm firsthand. Meet Blake Rockwell.

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