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Deadliest Mass Shooting In U.S. History; At Least 50 Dead, 200 Plus Injured At Las Vegas Concert. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired October 02, 2017 - 06:30   ET

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: It was the Route 91 Harvest Festival, the fourth year of this live event. There were thousands and thousands of people listening to the country music entertainer of the year, Jason Aldean, at that moment when these sounds started.

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Police say the suspect is dead. There was a man police killed in the room on that 32nd floor right now. They believe he was the only shooter. There is another person of interest, however, in this case, Marilou Danley, 4 foot 11.

She is believed to have been associated in some way with the gunman, a roommate, an associate of some kind and police have put this picture out because they are looking for her right now.

But again, after the shooting, there was concern as there always is that there was more than one gunman. Police want to make clear they do not believe there is an ongoing threat. That suspect is dead.

CAMEROTA: We're awaiting an update from the local police at any moment and maybe at that point they will give us the suspect's identity. Maybe they will have found something in that hotel room that helps their investigation and helps anyone on earth understand how this could happen and why this happened.

We do know that they were able to obviously take out the gunman as quick a way as they probably could. No one ever prepares for something coming out of the 32nd floor window over a venue like this.

We just heard from our eyewitness, Storme, telling us that it felt like an eternity, obviously, but it always does. This is what we always hear from eyewitnesses. Emergency responders get there as soon as possible.

Let me bring in very quickly our law enforcement analyst who were standing by. We have Jim Gagliano and Joe Giacalone. What did you hear from our eyewitness there, Jim?

JAMES GAGLIANO, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Again, it's chilling to hear in the background the repeatity of the shots. It's just absolutely -- it's stupefying. The fact that the gunman was a Las Vegas resident says that he knows the area well and that's a big part of putting together crime. When you're looking at motive and what premeditated acts did he put forth because we can -- as you pointed out, it will sort through find out what the ideology was behind it or whether or not he just had mental health issues.

The fact that he took an elevated position and there's where you saw the confusion with the folks down there. We teach folks run, hide, fight, and then go tell somebody in law enforcement what you saw. But in that instance, no one knew where the shots were coming. You could hear people saying where is it coming from? The noise in that cavern down there.

BERMAN: I got to say was pretty interesting the eyewitness thought it was coming from the roof of the hotel as opposed on the ground. He had a pretty good sense that the shots were from up above pretty quickly, which is pretty extraordinary.

Joe, another thing that he said, which is, you know, in these awful instances there is a moment of hope is that he said though there was a chaos, everyone was helping everyone. The victims were from gunshots not from some kind of stampede.

JOSEPH GIACALONE, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE SERGEANT: Yes. It's pretty amazing. You think about the terror that was in people's minds at that moment and not to run and try to help people. It is truly amazing. Sometimes these instances bring out the best of these situations or leadership roles. People just don't realize they're doing it but they just run and do it.

CAMEROTA: We still have Storme with us on the phone. He was on the stage with country superstar, Jason Aldean, when this happened. Storme, for people who were just joining us, can you just recap what that moment was like? You were on stage when you figured out what was happening.

STORME WARREN, ON STAGE DURING SHOOTING (via telephone): It was a sound we thought was pyrotechnics. We thought there was a misfire because it was during the song not at the end of the song and it just seemed weird. Maybe an audio issue and it just sounded like (inaudible).

And then it happened again and for longer periods of time. We realized we were definitely under some sort of gunfire and Jason and his crew realized that too. They were ushered off the stage and we all go to whatever shelter we could find.

CAMEROTA: Storme, hold on one second. Let us hear the sheriff.

SHERIFF JOE LOMBARDO, LAS VEGAS POLICE DEPARTMENT: It is very important for you to understand that this investigation will be long and contracted before we get to everything associated with it. But one of the things I wanted to update you with is we have located the vehicles that I had put out in the first briefing.

[06:35:09] And we believe -- we're confident but not 100 percent sure we have located the female person of interest. So, I want the people to feel confident and calm in that aspect that we've accomplished a lot in a short period of time.

Now the number of injuries is, I do not know yet, but we are looking at in excess of 50 individuals dead and over 200 individuals injured at this point. I do not want to give you an accurate number and it be wrong. So subsequently that is why I am portraying it in that manner.

Now, the suspect I am going to provide you his identity at this point. His name is Steven Paddock with a date of birth of 4-9-1953. As far as his history and background, we haven't completed that part of the investigation yet.

But we located numerous firearms within the room that he occupied. Like I stated earlier, it will be a long and tedious investigation. Now, we're bringing in all the resources of the FBI to assist us in this investigation, in particular to their victim witness advocates and their "CSI" folks to help us process the scene and assure we are getting all the evidence we can possibly obtain.

Now, furthermore, I want to the provide you the phone number that I said I would provide in the first briefing. That number for family and friends to get an update on loved ones is 1-866-535-5654, one more time, 1-866-535-5654.

Obviously, this is a tragic incident and one that we have never experienced in this valley. So, what we are going to try to do is the best we can to get first responders back on their feet and responding and conducting a proper investigation and ensure that we have the safety of this community at heart.

My condolences go out to the loved ones that lost their lives and their families. We will do the best we can to make it as easier as possible to get the information as we know it. I think it is important for you to see is the FBI, county fire, and commissioner behind me shows that we have full support of all the government entities to solve this situation as soon as possible.

(Inaudible)

LOMBARDO: No, not yet.

(Inaudible)

LOMBARDO: I don't know either because there's some officers from other jurisdictions that was attending the concert. So, I don't have an accurate number on of that yet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).

LOMBARDO: One is critical but stable. One of my officers was off duty attending the concert and lost his life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you give any more details about the firearms --

LOMBARDO: No, I don't have any more details on the firearms. All we know is they were rifles. We're executing a search warrant on the room as we speak.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).

LOMBARDO: We're holding up. We're going to do the best we can and I don't want to say that's what we're paid to do because nobody is paid to do what we are experiencing right now. But in my purview of the police department, they are doing a fantastic job, and we will have to look at out for well-being moving forward.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said there were numerous firearms found in Steven Paddock's room. Is that his home or in the hotel?

LOMBARDO: At the hotel. We will be executing a search warrant there also shortly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).

LOMBARDO: That's a hard question to answer at this point. It's too early in the process and please give us time so we can do a good job. Thank you. I will provide you an update on a regular basis at approximately a two-hour window at a time. As you can imagine, with don't get a lot of information all at once. So please bear with us when I provide you information.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Several people on social media are asking where they can donate blood (inaudible).

LOMBARDO: The phone number that I provided, we will get that information out. But right now -- you know, I'm not comfortable providing that information. We're overwhelmed in the medical services at all the hospitals right now. But United Blood Services has responded. Once they get all their personnel on the ground and more people in place, we will be able to provide that info.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).

LOMBARDO: Looking for their loved ones.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).

[06:40:04] LOMBARDO: Yes, ma'am. There's two locations where they have been responding. One is at South Central Area Command, which is in close proximity at Mandalay Bay and then also here. (Inaudible) we would like them to come to police headquarters on Martin Luther King so they are not inundated with people responding in that area. All right. Thank you very much. Have a good night.

CAMEROTA: OK, for those of you just joining us, we just received is a devastating headline there from Sheriff Joe Lombardo of the Las Vegas Sheriffs Department. He just announced that in this mass shooting last night that happened at a big music festival, outdoor music festival, 50 people have been killed.

That makes this the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. It outpaces the Pulse Nightclub that happened in June 2016 where 49 people were killed. Fifty people have been killed he said last night and at least 200 people injured. They're in area hospitals, many of them in critical condition, including one of his officers.

BERMAN: At least 50 people killed. That number has gone up by 30 just over the last hour and a half. Unfortunately, you might expect it to go up again. We also learned, and this is important, the identity of the suspect who was killed. His name is Steven Paddock, 64 years old, a Las Vegas area native.

And the sheriff told us numerous firearms were found in the room of the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel room where he was killed, numerous firearms, 64 years old, Steven Paddock.

The woman who was a person interest connected to this man, Marilou Danley, she has been found. We don't know if she is in custody right now. You can assume, though, that they are with here. Also, the vehicles they were looking for have been found as well.

CAMEROTA: We also found that as I said, one officer at least is still in critical condition, and one officer skilled. He was off duty at the concert. Our own Jean Casarez has been live at the scene for hours. She is in Las Vegas on the strip. Jean, what's happening there?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are also learning that right now as we speak at the hotel behind me, the Mandalay Bay, that a search warrant is currently being executed in the room where Steven Paddock was and we heard just briefly ago in the press conference, they believed there were weapons, we heard rifles.

But they are executing that search warrant. It is an active crime scene right now. They also are in the midst of executing a search warrant. He said very shortly at the residence of Steven Paddock.

So, law enforcement, including the FBI, local authorities, and CSI are in all aspects of this investigation at this point. Here's where we are. We are right on the strip. It is an early quiet evening, early morning hours in Las Vegas. Not the hustle bustle that you usually have.

We just heard that the freeways that had been shut down -- let me tell you this town was shut down. Freeways were shut down. Airport flights were curtailed. We've heard the freeways have just been opened for people to pass through. Exits are still shut down.

The landing above McCarran International Airport right across the street, I have seen one airplane land, but at least two dozen flights were diverted. It is believed flights will continue as morning breaks.

But I think victims and people that experienced this, I have seen so many emotions. I have seen shock, tears, disbelief. I have seen people just trying to relive what they have just experienced, which is trying to save their lives.

As you said, John, they are not knowing at this point how many victims there are, how many deceased there are. The number has increased at least 50 people at this moment they have confirmed are dead. They said the hospitals were overwhelmed at this point.

We know there is one level one trauma center in Las Vegas. There is a level two trauma center. But for three hours, I saw ambulances go into the strip with their lights and sirens on and they would come out.

And I would look in the window see them working on people as they were taking them to the local and the nearest trauma center. Now that has quieted down. We're not seeing the ambulances come out anymore. Now the crime scene, investigation is into top gear.

CAMEROTA: Jean, please standby for us. Obviously come to us with any updates that you get from that incredibly active scene that continues behind you. At 6:44 on the east coast, we assume that the president has been briefed on this tragedy that has occurred overnight and that the White House is aware of what's happening.

I believe we have Joe Johns, who is standing by for us there at the White House. Joe, any word from the president?

[06:45:05] JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: No word so far from the president as far as we know. It's very interesting, of course, because by this hour in the morning, many, many days and certainly over the past 48 hours, the president has been very active on Twitter.

And not a word from him, not a word also from his press secretary as well. We do know that the federal government's Homeland Security apparatus has been overburdened over the last several days with issues relating to the hurricane response in Puerto Rico.

In fact, the president is planning to go to Puerto Rico, at least so far, it's on the schedule for tomorrow. But not a peep from them thus far. Now the condolences are starting to pour in from outside the country, including the office of Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain.

She put out on Twitter a statement a little while ago saying, "Britain's thoughts and prayers are with the victims in what she called an appalling attack." So, the president, who has been very quick on Twitter especially involving acts that might later be deemed terrorism, we're not saying the that is the case here.

The president has jumped on Twitter and made remarks sometimes that people later took issue with. This time it appears the president is holding off and we're waiting to hear from him and what he has to say. Back to you.

BERMAN: All right. Joe Johns for us at the White House. We will wait to hear from the White House and the president as more information comes in. Back with us now law enforcement panel, James Gagliano and Joe Giacalone.

We now know, Jim, the identity of the shooter, Steve Paddock, 64 years old, which is older than usual when we have these mass shooting suspects. Live pictures of the scene right now as we are looking right now. He was killed in the hotel room, 32nd floor, with numerous firearms. The woman has been found. The person of interest has been found and also the vehicles. So, very rapid developments here.

GAGLIANO: Absolutely, John. And what struck me the most was the age, 64 years old. This seems to be just outside the normal age range of what we have with these folks that commit these depraved acts of mass shootings.

A couple other things struck me. One, early on we were careful not to call it an act of terror. We haven't been able to get into the political ideologies were behind it. But I think it's interesting the FBI is directly involved in this, as the sheriff pointed out. The evidence response team, ERT, which are the crime scene folks are working this thing and I think you have to consider it terror until proven otherwise.

CAMEROTA: And what would make it terror? I mean, obviously it's terrifying. Meaning there is a political basis for this?

GAGLIANO: The actual definition for terrorism is this. It is any violence, intimidation or threat of sane in pursuit of political aims or social aims. They are going to be digging through right now. They have some search warrants. They will try to find out were there social media postings.

What was the mindset or was this just a mentally unstable individual? But the sheriff nailed it, this is going to be a protracted investigation. It will not be wrapped up in a day or two.

CAMEROTA: You heard one of the reporters shout to the sheriff there, any motivation yet? Was a note found? Have they looked at the social media? And he said way too soon. Nothing yet. They're obviously in triage mode. They have 50 people at least who have been killed. This sets a sickening new bar for mass shootings in the United States. This is the worst casualty number of any mass shooting ever in our history.

GIACALONE: I mean, they're being very guarded about what information they have. We don't want to speculate or jump to conclusions. I mean, we have seen this happened in the past and we don't want to make any mistakes.

And you know what? The law enforcement has been handling this pretty well from the beginning to where they are right now. I mean, we have to be happy about how he is dealing with the media, every two hours. This is something we haven't seen yet.

So, the chief is doing it himself. He's not using a public information officer. He is out there out in the front of this, the face of the investigation, and I think that's why he is going to be very careful about what he releases.

CAMEROTA: Sheriff Joe Lombardo of the Las Vegas Sheriff's Department. He sounded shaken.

BERMAN: He lost one of his own deputies. He made clear that at least one of his deputies who was at the concert as a fan off duty was killed in that. So, it's a very emotional moment for all of them.

CAMEROTA: And another in critical condition.

GIACALONE: So, he's got a lot on his mind, a lot on his plate. He lives there too.

BERMAN: You know, Jim, the interesting that the sheriff said at the first briefing and in his last briefing he said we don't know the shooter's belief system which is code. Often in mass shootings now in this day and age you look and see, is this an act of political domestic Islamic terror. He made clear we do not know the shooter's belief system.

GAGLIANO: Sure. Absolutely. I mean, there has been some speculation. People jumped to it was a country concert.

[06:50:08] County fans are law enforcement veterans, those kinds of folks. That stuff will all be sorted out. Right now, the mechanics in place are, first of all, which is what they have done, let's mitigate the threat.

In crisis resolution, stop the shootings, the casualties. Second, the prevention of more property destruction, and then third, consequence management. Let's make sure nobody else gets hurt. You have broken glass, suspended cartridges, a lot of things that need to be cleaned up.

Then you go through the painstaking crime scene and work through that. John, there's only one way you can describe what just took place. This was a killing field. He picked that position purposely from the high ground, almost with military thought and precision and turned that concert into a killing field.

CAMEROTA: We are getting a lot more information from Las Vegas, the scene of this horrific breaking news that we're bringing to you this morning. The worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

We've just heard from the sheriff. We will take a very quick break so we can reset and get all of our correspondents into position and bring more information on this breaking news. We'll be right back.

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CAMEROTA: We do have breaking news of the worst variety right now. We want to bring our viewers around the world up to speed, as well as everyone who is watching us in the United States. The worst mass shooting in U.S. history happened last night. At least 50 people are dead. At least 200 people are injured.

Some of them quite critically. This happened at a huge outdoor concert called the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on the Las Vegas strip. A gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and mowed down people, concertgoers, who were outside listening at that moment country music superstar, Jason Aldean, was on stage. The numbers keep going up in just sickening shocking fashion. At least 50 people that outpaces any mass shooting even the Pulse Nightclub that we've ever seen here in the United States.

The suspect was killed. He was 64 years old. He had an associate, a person of interest, who the police now have identified and found their investigation is just beginning. It will be long and protracted.

BERMAN: Look, they don't know a motivation for this killing yet. More than 50 people dead, you could call it an act of on terror by any definition.

[06:55:05] We have someone with us on the phone who was there right on the scene after it happened. Taxi driver, Corianne Langdon, who shot this video from inside her car. She waited in the taxi line outside the Mandalay Bay Resort. She joins us by phone right now. Thank you for being with us. I hope you're OK. Please tell me what you saw.

CORIANNE LANGDON, TAXI DRIVER (via telephone): I'm fine. I just feel so horrible for everybody. Now I'm finding out more people are dead. I feel really bad. Basically, I was at the Mandalay Bay. It was very quiet. I was just sitting in the taxi waiting for a ride.

And all of a sudden, I heard a couple of pops. I thought it was fireworks coming from the festival across the street. So, I didn't think much about it. Then a couple seconds later it started again. I just decided to turn on my video on my cell phone.

And I still didn't know what was going on and I saw a security guard going by. It just was -- everything just seemed so normal. I didn't think anything of it. Then I started hearing my fellow taxi drivers are our dispatch radio saying, oh, yes, there's somebody shooting and it's over by the Mandalay Bay.

And I thought, well, I'm right here by the Mandalay Bay and I don't hear anything going on. I did decide that maybe I should go ahead and get out of there. As I was coming back around, I heard and saw the shots.

By then I realized something really was going on, but you only see that kind of stuff in movies really. I didn't really comprehend what was actually going on. So, I came back around. By now everybody on our dispatch radio was sawing, OK, get out of there. There is an active shooter.

So, I went ahead and got out of there and I went -- it wasn't until I crossed Las Vegas Boulevard and saw all the cop cars. And I saw a couple of cop cars -- or a couple cops behind there with shotguns.

I thought, oh, there's something really going on. So, I came back around and that's when I saw people starting to run and scream and they were coming out of the festival venue. And there were people coming over the fences and people started running towards my car.

And, again, it was just surreal. I didn't really comprehend what was going on. Two people came up and said, oh, she has a broken leg, can she get in? I said, yes, go ahead and then they started running up to my cab.

I took as many as I could. People were screaming and I filmed -- I realized it was really bad. When I started going across and there's people in front of my cab and people laying on the ground being treated to, triage and everything, and even in the cab started screaming saying there was blood all over them.

There's hundreds of people dead inside. Of course, these people were freaked out and that's when I started to realize, oh, my God, something is wrong. So, I got out of there as soon as possible. They kept saying take us to the strip.

And I said, no, we want to get as far away as possible. I wasn't really scared then but I'm definitely scared now and I feel really bad for everybody and all the families.

BERMAN: Listen, Corianne, it's because of the bravery of people like you that we know Las Vegas will get through this. You helped people. You got them into your car and got them out to safety, which is exactly what they needed at the time. Corianne, thank you so much for telling us what you saw. We're glad you are OK.

LANGDON: Thank you so much. God bless the families.

CAMEROTA: Yes. You too.

We do have breaking news. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Monday, October 2nd, 7:00 in New York. John Berman joins me in studio because we have breaking news of the worst variety.

The deadliest mass shooting in U.S. has just happened. At least 50 people are dead and more than 200 injured after a gunman has opened fire at an outdoor music country festival on the Las Vegas strip.

Concertgoers captured the terror as hundreds of these gunshots rang out from what sounds like an automatic weapon. Here's a moment of that.

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