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Quest Means Business
President Praises Military and First Responders; Las Vegas Police Gives Update on Massacre Investigation; U.S. Congress Grills Wells Fargo CEO and Equifax Ex-CEO;
Aired October 03, 2017 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00] PAULA NEWTON, CNN HOST: You cannot keep a good market down. Look at that. All solid greens. Stock markets keep rolling to new
records. It's the all-time high again, for the all major indices on Wall Street. And that's on Tuesday, the 3rd of October.
Tonight, President Trump tours Puerto Rico and meets the Mayor he clashed with. You will hear our exclusive interview with her this hour. Plus,
U.S. President hence that gun laws will be reviewed. The powerful gun lobby, you can bet, will have plenty to say about that. And top executives
from Equifax and Wells Fargo face the music on Capitol Hill.
I'm Paula Newton and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Okay, we have a busy hour ahead on two major stories. Donald Trump is wrapping up his trip to Puerto Rico. He's due to leave in about an hour
from now when we are expecting to see him on board the U.S. Navy's assault ship, Kearsarge, in a few minutes. Were also, though tracking the
investigation into Sunday night's massacre in Las Vegas. We're expecting a police news conference, really at any moment now. Those press conferences
have been Rich in detail and new information. We will bring that to you as soon as it begins.
Now, as we were telling you, the President will be in Las Vegas, tomorrow. He's in Puerto Rico right now. Thanking first responders and the military
for their efforts to help in the aftermath of hurricane Maria. Now the President, who has accompanied by the first lady, heaped praise on Puerto
Rico's governor for an -- it's a quote now -- not playing politics. That's an apparent reference to Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of the capital city,
San Juan, who has said the U.S. response was too slow. Now, Mr. Trump also joked about the just disaster affecting his budget.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you've thrown our budget a little out of whack. Because we've
spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico. And that's fine. We've saved a lot of lives. If you look at the -- every death is a horror. But if you look
at a real catastrophe like Katrina, and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds in hundreds of people that died and you look at what happened
here, with really a storm that was just totally overpowering. Nobody's ever seen anything like this. And what is your -- what is your death count
as of this moment? 17?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 16.
TRUMP: 16 people certified, 16 people versus in the thousands.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Sara Murray joins us now. She is with the president in Puerto Rico. What kind of an afternoon has it been? We've seen the President out
there meeting with people, throwing out things like paper towels and toilet paper. But has he been able to really take a measure of what people in
Puerto Rico are going through?
SARA MURRAY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, as with all things involving President Trump, it's been a little bit unorthodox. You don't
usually see the President literally throwing rolls of paper towel and other emergency supplies. Usually they hand them out in lines like that. But
that is President Trump's style. He also toured a neighborhood. It's one of the wealthier neighborhoods on the island. And spoke to people about
the storm damage. So, in that sense, he is speaking to storm survivors. He is talking to people on the ground. He had a briefing with the
governors of Puerto Rico, as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands, to get a better sense from them of the scope of the damage and destruction. And
also, what they think it's going to take to rebuild.
What we're seeing here in San Juan, where power is coming back and cell phone service is coming back and restaurants are opening, that's not the
same thing that we're seeing play out in some of these neighborhoods outside. And that's the concern from some residents that we have been
speaking to on the ground over these last few days. They're worried that President Trump is going to come here and he's only going to see progress.
He's not going to fully understand how much more needs to be done for these residents. You really do not have to venture far outside of the city of
San Juan to see people who have lost everything from their homes and, you know, the roofs of their homes. And these families are really struggling.
They still haven't seen aid trucks, whether it's for food or water or that kind of thing.
NEWTON: Yes, and it's interesting, as you know, Sara, our reporters have told us you can go 15 minutes outside of where you're standing right now,
and you can see that. Do you think the White House, though, is in some measure listening? Because I point out that, look, he's going to Vegas
tomorrow. But he continued with this trip. Even during this terrible tragedy now in the United States.
MURRAY: That's right and this is really sort of the presidential juggle we're seeing. He could have cancelled this trip. He could have gone
straight ahead to Las Vegas or decided to scrap it all together. I think this is an administration that knows it is under pressure when it comes to
the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico. They were caught a little bit flat-footed, according to some of their critics, at the outset. It took
the President nearly two weeks to come visit here. Remember, we're two weeks out and less than 7 percent of residents here have power.
[16:05:02] And I think the criticism and scrutiny of the White House was growing. So, I do think the President and his other senior officials
realize that his presence was needed here. He need to prove that he was paying attention. And that they are treating Puerto Rico like it is
actually, you know, a U.S. territory, like these are American citizens.
NEWTON: And how sensitive do you think he is to that? Because we've heard from a lot of Puerto Ricans say, look, if this was happening in Washington,
D.C. If this was happening in Philly, we would not have this situation. Are they sensitive to that, as well?
MURRAY: Oh, there is no doubt that administration officials have been very defensive about the response effort here in Puerto Rico. They insist that
it was extremely complicated, because it's, of course, an island. Because the infrastructure was in such poor shape. Even before he got hit by two
different storms. But I think if you just look at the President's comments today, the fact that the first thing he did was sort of land here and been
to pat himself on the back. To pat administration officials on the back, whether it was FEMA, whether it was the military, whether it was the
governor here on the ground. They very much want to send the message that, look, we are doing all that we can, it can be a lot worse, and we were
prepared to handle this from the very beginning. Now, critics would say otherwise. Critics would say when you're two weeks out and you're still
facing gas lines. And there are people who have yet to see an aid truck, that's a huge problem.
NEWTON: A problem that shouldn't be happening in the United States. This is the point. Sara, so good to see you there on the ground. We appreciate
it. As Sara was just saying, there were lots of pats on the back going around. As soon as the President landed there in Puerto Rico. Now he had
much to say for the military, the federal officials, and the governor at the photo op. But he didn't refer directly to the outspoken Mayor of San
Juan, who has criticized the U.S. response. Now, Mayor Cruz tells CNN, the President needs to avoid becoming the miss-communicator-in-chief. Out
Leyla Santiago spoke to her just a few moments ago and asked her reaction in this exclusive interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARMEN YULIN CRUZ, MAYOR OF SAN JUAN: Mr. President, this is about saving lives. It's not about politic that's all the interaction that mayors had
with him. Basically, the productive part of the meeting was the second part, where we got to meet with White House staff. And I truly believe
that they finally saw the connection or the disconnect, between what they were hearing on the one hand, and the reality of what is happening on the
ground. Not only from myself, but from mayors that have confronted the same situations that I have been talking about for the past two weeks.
LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, you're saying there were two parts to this meeting.
CRUZ: Yes.
SANTIAGO: One with President Trump and one without, just his White House staff?
CRUZ: Yes.
SANTIAGO: Now, in the first part, where he was present, he made some pretty strong remarks. He talked about the budget. That Puerto Rico has
sort of thrown the budget out of whack. He even compared what's happening here to a real catastrophe like Katrina. When you heard that, you were
sitting in that room. You have been criticized by him before. What went through your mind as the mayor of the capital here?
CRUZ: Well, look. I think it -- it just goes to prove that the lack of sensibility. You're coming to a place where people are expecting you to be
comforted and they're expecting you, frankly, to speaks as to what actions are going to happen. And that's what happened on the second part. What I
heard him say, and, I quote, Puerto Rico, you have thrown our budget out of whack for all of the money we have spent here. It doesn't make you feel
good. And, again, this is about two things. It's about respect for the Puerto Rican people. And it's about saving lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now, you heard the mayor talk there about the President making reference to the budget. There are a lot of financial issues. A big
financial hangover for #Puerto Rico, even before the storm hit. The CEO of America's largest Hispanic-owned food company says it's not enough just to
rebuild Puerto Rico's infrastructure to the point of where it was before. Now, it is so bad, it was bad to begin with. Goya has played a big part in
trying to get help to people affected by successive hurricanes, handing out shipments of food. Now, I asked the chief executive why aid isn't getting
through faster in Puerto Rico.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB UNANUE, CEO, GOYA: As far as the private sector is concerned, a lot of the people that were hit were dealing with their own tragedies and the
drivers, et cetera. We were able to get within short order our own people to -- we were providing food, et cetera, to react to get our plant going,
to get our aid to -- municipalities. There was no communication. We actually had mayors coming to our facilities and pleading for help. And we
reacted as soon as soon as we could.
NEWTON: Infrastructure on the island before and after. In terms of the devastation, what have you seen, and how long do you think it's going to
take to get Puerto Rico back where it was?
UNANUE: To get it back where it was is not is not a fix. We have to improve it. I lived there for 10 years. Four of my six children were born
there. And the infrastructure was weak then. It's deteriorated in the last years.
[16:10:06] So we can't return it to what it was, because of what it was, is an unacceptable. We have to return it to something better. And, you know,
it didn't help 936 legislations, which were business incentives were taken away from the island in the '90s. Jobs went. So, we need that
infrastructure back. We need jobs back in order to rebuild Puerto Rico over again.
NEWTON: When you say the infrastructure was weak, though, do you just mean that for years and years and years there's been a deficit of that kind of
investment from both private industry, but principally the government?
UNANUE: Unfortunately, there was corruption. The PREPA, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority throughout the island it was -- I think a misuse
of funds. Money is not going to where they had to go to rebuild that infrastructure. And it's just a calamity of errors. And the absence of
industry -- there was an exodus of the island, 500,000 people have left the island in the last ten years, 50 to 60,000 a year. I'm afraid that that
might accelerate. But we have to get Puerto Rico on track with new investments and, you know, bring that vital infrastructure back to the
island.
NEWTON: You make such great point, though, that we can't get it back to where it was. It got to go beyond that, because it was inferior. As a
private business person, as business owner, not owner there, but business director there, what would you say to both the local government and the
federal level government right now?
UNANUE: You know, I'm not a politician. But I think to incentivize industry, business -- like the president is talking about incentives, for
bringing offshore profits back to the mainland, we have to think about that for Puerto Rico. Bring that vital investment back, and make Puerto Rico
viable again. It's hard to function as a an island. So, those incentives are necessary to make it work.
NEWTON: And why do you think private business is important to get involved in this endeavor?
UNANUE: You know, the government doesn't create jobs. Private industry creates jobs. They can provide the framework to create the jobs. But it's
up to business to create the jobs, and president Clinton called 936 back in the day a corporate welfare. As businesses left, it became real welfare.
So, we've got to get businesses back and create the jobs. And make Puerto Rico -- the Puerto Rico economy viable again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: It Will be so important to hear from those private industry voices in the months, and I hate to say, years to come in Puerto Rico.
Now, in a moment, two company execs face tough questioning in the U.S. Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: At best, you are incompetent. At worst, you were complicit and either way, you should be fired.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Ok. Tell us what you really think. Wells Fargo CEO and the former head of Equifax grilled over major breaches of trust. That's coming
up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:15:16] NEWTON: Two giant companies, two corporate scandals that saw top management forced out, Wells Fargo and Equifax. Now today they faced
separate hearings on Capitol Hill. Former Equifax CEO Richard Smith and the head of Wells Fargo, Tim Sloan, were both slammed by U.S. lawmakers.
Let's start with Smith. Now retired from Equifax, that's just about a week old. He was at the helm when hackers stole masses of information from the
credit scoring company. Now, Equifax reported the break in at the beginning of September. Yes, that was months after it happened. The
company said on Monday the number of people whose personal data could have been accessed was 2.5 million higher than first thought. More than 145
million in all. Extraordinary. U.S. lawmakers were not impressed with the company's response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAN SCHAKOWSKY (D), ILLINOIS: Senior officials at the company are saying they weren't immediately aware that the breach occurred. And, yet,
by the way, there were executives who sold over a million dollars in stock, just days after the breach was discovered. But yet not reported. And for
a lot of Americans, that just doesn't pass the smell test. The response to the breach was its own debacle. Equifax offered consumers credit
monitoring services that initially came with a mandatory arbitration clause, which fortunately has been corrected. Equifax tweeted links to the
wrong URL, directing victims to a fake website. The call center was understaffed, and in the end Equifax has had to apologize for its post
breach response. Almost as much as if it has apologized for the breach itself. Equifax deserves to be shamed.
RICHARD SMITH, FORMER CEO, EQUIFAX: The criminal hack happened on my watch. And as CEO, I am ultimately responsible. And I take full
responsibility. I'm here today to say to each and every person affected by this breach, I'm truly and deeply sorry for what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Paul La Monica joins me now. So, what, so you're sorry. What both of these companies did after these scandals, you know -- that doesn't
even show any kind of authentic contrition that you can talk about.
PAUL R. LA MONICA, CNNMONEY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And I think that Congress really picked up on that, Paula. One lawmaker going so far to say that
even if Congress would try to fix the many wrongs that we had from Equifax, you really can't legislate doing something that was stupid. And that
really, to be blunt --
NEWTON: You know what, I'm sorry, Paul. I think that's charitable. I think that to say that it was just stupidity --
LA MONICA: The whole business model is protecting data of consumers. It's providing credit scores. And you would have to think that the data and,
you know, integrity of it has to be sacrosanct. And it obviously wasn't.
NEWTON: Well, Paul, give us an insight into what Wall Street is thinking right now. Because is easy for everybody to go on Capitol Hill. And you
know, you get the public flogging. And I'm sure, I'm willing to bet, that in these strategy rooms, the CEOs are just saying, yes, were going to take
our public flogging and then we're going to move on. Why? Because everybody's afraid of regulation. Do you think there is more of an
appetite there, or do you think -- let's say they can be more effective from putting any kind of regulation on Wall Street, truly in a Trump
administration?
LA MONICA: Yes. It's going to be interesting to see how that plays out going forward, Paula. Because obviously, there is a big difference between
what's going on at Wells Fargo now and Equifax. At least at Wells Fargo, Tim Sloan wants to keep his job. Richard Smith at Equifax, he's already
lost his job. He went up today, and doesn't have to worry about whether or not he says something that might make the board consider getting rid of
him.
QUEST: I'm going to pause you right there, Paul. Thank u. We are going to go straight to Las Vegas, where police are giving us an update on that
massacre in Las Vegas.
SHERIFF JOSEPH LOMBARDO, LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE: Good afternoon everybody. You are all aware of who I am, Sheriff Joe Lombardo, Clark
County. There's going to be little bit different orchestration in this press conference as compared to the rest. What I'm going to do right now,
I think it's important that we address the victim issues we are experiencing. And the resource issues we are experiencing. So, I'm going
to key on that, on the original portion of this. And then subsequently Commissioner Sisolak is going to provide some donation information and
acknowledgment.
[16:20:0] And then after that I will come back to the podium and address the overall investigation. Where we stand and where we are going.
Now, referencing the investigation piece, I don't want to repeat of what I experienced yesterday. It's an ongoing investigation. So, I'll be limited
in the details that I provide you. But hopefully we can get through this with some monochrome of decorum. So please don't rush me all at once.
When we get to the question phase I will identify you if you just raise your hand. Sound fair? All right. We'll get through this.
OK. So as matters of formality, our department has worked through the night to identify haul the victims of Sunday evenings mass shooting at the
Route 91 Harvest Festival. We have identified all but three victims. We still have an active scene at the grounds near Mandalay Bay, so we ask
everyone to stay away from that area until further notice.
The FBI is working diligently to clear that scene. So, the question is the FBI versus us. We have partnered with the FBI, as I said, from the very
beginning of this, in the investigative phase. The FBI has brought a large amount of resources out of Washington D.C. to assist us with that. So,
the reason why the Harvest Festival was still in continuation of investigation is not only solely related to the removal of the victims, but
is also documentation of the scene. So, we are using the best practice technology to ensure that we have complete documentation. That's why it
has taken a longer period of time associated with this. So, we ask for everybody's patience.
As far as Las Vegas Boulevard, north and south, we anticipate being open shortly, in the next few hours, to benefit with commerce and what we do as
a community. All right. The key component here is resources and victim identification. So, bear with me. I'm going to try to get through this
the best I can. But the important piece is if you missed a number, we are putting up on lbmpd.com the next hour the listing of all numbers I shall
provide you today and for people out in the public to contact us if they are lacking this or they don't see this broadcast.
OK we are asking for anyone who might have information about the shooting in a criminal capacity or as a victim of the shooting to contact us via
311. If you are out of state, if you have left since the shooting and you have discovered you feel that you have become a victim or you realize you
have an injury associated to it, we are still asking you to contact us, but the out of state number will be 702-828-3111. Additionally, if you are
local, and you have the ability to respond to a local substation, a working police substation, locals are familiar with, you have the ability to file a
report at that location.
Now, the family reunification, all that is occurring at the family resource center at the convention center located at 3150 Paradise Road. You can go
there to file missing person report. You can go there to have contact with the coroner's office. And you can go there to get answers to your
questions as far as family reunification. The phone number if you have left the area is 1-866-535-5654. Now we went through a little short
process here recently where that number was down. We provided a separate number. But we will go back to that original number because we had the
technical aspects of that fixed. So, I want to be very clear on the difference. If you are reporting a crime or you feel you are a victim of a
crime, 311 is your outlet or a local police substation. If you are looking for victim information or family reunification, the Family Resource Center
on Paradise Road is your point of contact.
Now, personal property. We are getting several questions throughout yesterday and continuing today on people attempting to recover their
personal property from the Route 91 scene. We are working out the details of that. We are in the planning phase of that. And we will have an answer
for that in the next couple hours.
[16:25:00] So lvpd.com will have an answer to that probably before we have another press conference. But we are working diligently to get individuals
who left personal property at the scene back to them as soon as possible. I anticipate it will not take place at the Route 91 location, but I do not
want to give you furtherance of clarification at this point. So, you will be provided that.
The other issue is donations. As you can imagine, in any critical incident, the out pouring of support from private citizens, corporations,
and everybody else associated with concern for the victims is overwhelming, and we appreciate that. But there comes a point where we can't manage it.
Now the Red Cross is unable to manage it. We are unable to manage it at the substations. So, if it's hard goods such as water or canned goods or
stuff that will not become perishable, Three Square, and Catholic Charities is accepting those donations. So, were asking you to provide that
information to your listening public and to except donations at that point.
So, areas -- and let me give you the addresses for those. So Catholic Charities is obviously at 1501 Las Vegas Boulevard North. And Three Square
is located at 4190 North Pecos Road. At this point I will acquiesce to Commissioner Sisolak and he will give you an update on the donation phase
of this as far as victim satisfaction. And then I will return and we will conduct a Q and A associated with the investigation. Commissioner.
STEVE SISOLAK, CLARK COUNTY COMMISSIONER: Thank you, sheriff. And we appreciate you all being here today to give you a bit of an update on where
we stand. The fund that the sheriff and I set up yesterday has now surpassed 53,000 individual donations. It's an excess of $3.7 million as
we speak. I want to bring -- we need a lot more resources. We're going to need a lot more money. We've got individuals that are going to need future
surgeries and help and so forth moving forward.
I want to acknowledge a few special individuals, not included in that total of $3.7 million. Last night a private citizen called both the sheriff and
I and contributed $500,000 to the fund. That is not included in that total this morning. Wayne and Kathleen Newton called me and they have donated
$100,000. That is not included in that total. For those who want to contribute and don't want to do it on GoFundMe, you can make a check to Las
Vegas Victims Fund and mail it either to the county office, my office or the Sheriff's office. But I just got off the phone with Jim Murren from
MGM International and the Sheriff and I both spoke to Jim. And obviously they have stepped up in an enormous manner with this community and
everything that they continue to do and on behalf of MGM and there are over 50,000 employees, they have contributed $3 million to this fund.
So, we appreciate everyone's support. The donations from $5 to now $3 million. And there is a lot of need. And we are going to do everything we
possibly can to raise money for each of these individuals. So, we appreciate you continuing to encourage folks. Your viewers and readers to
support the campaign. It's Las Vegas Victims, either on GoFundMe, or you can make a check to Las Vegas Victims Fund. Thank you all very much.
Thank you, Sheriff.
LOMBARDO: Can you provide a time line at to distribution?
SISOLAK: We are working through the idea of possible distribution that comes up. We already have some inquires. I think it's going to be a few
days how we can coordinate how we can distribute money. Right now, we're not looking at the minor property losses that some people have called on
regarding, you know, backpacks, shoes and phones. More major as it relates to surgeries, medical expense, funeral expenses, transportation and so
forth. But we should have more details with you. We're working through the county office and sheriff's office to develop something in the
immediate future in terms of where people can go, who they can call, to start distributing the money to the people who are the most desperate. So,
thank you very much.
LOMBARDO: OK. Just a quick synopsis of our current status of the investigation. I won't reiterate what we discussed yesterday in previous
press conferences. But we have completed the investigation at the Reno property and I'm sure the question will be presented of what was recovered
there. So, there was numerous electronic items. Additionally, five handguns and two shotguns. And a plethora of ammunition.
[16:30:00] So, we have served search warrants at three separate locations, that would be the room at the Mandalay Bay, the Mesquite location, and the
Reno location. Additionally, we served a search warrant on the suspect's vehicle located at the Mandalay Bay. So, I'm happy to answer any
questions. Yes, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you be specific about the modifications to the weapons they made them automatic? What the conversions?
LOMBARDO: The question was, what are the modifications associated with the weaponry? ATF is participating in that evaluation. I can't give you an
answer on whether any of them are automatic or not. But we are aware of a device called a bump-stock. And that enables an individual to speed up the
discharge of ammunition. I don't want to give you any more details than that, but in partner with the FBI, the ATF, they are sending those weapons
back East to the FBI Crime Lab for further evaluation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you found anything else?
LOMBARDO: Yes, yes, absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The girlfriend, has she given authorities information about his motive or anything? Can you tell us that information?
LOMBARDO: No, we don't have that information yet. But I'll assure you that the investigation with her is ongoing. And we anticipate some
information here from her shortly.
Yes, ma'am?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have information with regards to $100,000 payment to the Philippines?
LOMBARDO: No, ma'am, I do not. Now, here you go. Let's meet back up a little bit. There is a lot of information I do know. OK. But it's an
ongoing investigation. And when I say I do not know, I may know, but as you can imagine in a criminal investigation, we want to ensure the
continued safety of our community and that all of those questions are answered. And we, I assure you, this investigation is not ended with the
demise of Mr. Paddock.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could you give us an update, if there is an update, on the victims and the injuries? And also, is there anything new in the
involvement? Are you making any progress on determining a motive?
LOMBARDO: No. I'll answer your last question first. No, we are making progress. But I don't have complete answers yet. So, I anticipate
substantial amount of information to come in in the next 48 hours. Hold on. Let me finish the rest of this. As far as injuries, it goes across
the board. Coroner commented on that yesterday. We have trampled injuries. We have people trying to escape injuries of their own device.
We have gunshot wounds. So, if you are looking at total type of injuries associated with all the injuries in the people that died, it goes across
the board. I can't give you a percentage associated with gunshot versus other types of injuries.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are the numbers, the general numbers 59, have those changed or are they the same?
LOMBARDO: We believe the injury number has decreased slightly. And when I say slightly, maybe 20. Because we had a double count error occurring at
one of the hospitals. But we're looking close -- still in close proximity of the number I provided you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you aware. (INAUDIBLE).
LOMBARDO: I can't tell you her current whereabouts right now. All I know is the Philippines. And we are in conversation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is she a suspect?
LOMBARDO: Currently she's a person of interest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff, who?
LOMBARDO: The girlfriend. Yes, ma'am?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have any knowledge of these photos that say that it should have a hotel room after the SWAT team entered and it showed
guns in ammunitions inside. Can you verify the legitimacy of these photos? And should any of the outlets disseminate them?
LOMBARDO: I can't verify whether they're legitimate or not. What I can tell you is I'm very troubled by it. We have an investigation occurring as
we speak on how those photographs were obtained by the public forum.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff, can you talk about what was found inside that hotel room? Was the gunman recorded? Was the gunman transmitting
that video anywhere else?
LOMBARDO: I'm not aware of any transmission. But there was cameras. There was cameras located outside of the room and inside of the room.
Along with the firearms.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he had set up how many cameras?
[16:35:02] LOMBARDO: I don't know what the specific numbers were.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was intended?
LOMBARDO: Well, I anticipate he was looking for anybody coming to take him into custody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So essentially you have a recording of him carrying out this carnage?
LOMBARDO: No, that's not essentially what I'm saying. That is being evaluated. The FBI took all digital and electronic evidence into custody.
And we are evaluating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff?
LOMBARDO: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I apologize for that. Do we know if this man was targeting this particular event or did he have in mind perhaps another
event that was going to be coming up in the Las Vegas area as a possible target?
LOMBARDO: No, we haven't developed that yet. I'll provide you that information at a later date.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A follow-up on that. There's a report that he hadn't set the target in light of that, the concert.
LOMBARDO: We are unable to confirm that.
We are unable to confirm that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff, I have a question about (INAUDIBLE) Were they trying to get clearance (INAUDIBLE). Shots were reported until them
(INAUDIBLE).
LOMBARDO: What's the clarity you are seeking?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) what time the shots rang out? What time they started calling?
LOMBARDO: We received the call at 10:08 p.m. the best of our estimates and video review, he continued to fire at a progressive successive rate for
approximately nine minutes. As you can see by any video you see in the public space, it was hard to determine where they were coming from. Once
it was evaluated it was coming from the Mandalay Bay. As you can imagine how hard it would be to pinpoint the room from the outside. Officers
subsequently formed up, teamed up, and moved over to the Mandalay Bay in order to locate and engage. But that was in conjunction with the Mandalay
Bay security.
Now, this is an opportunity for me to tell you something. The Mandalay Bay security was fantastic. I don't want anybody assuming that they are unsafe
by, you know, staying at one of their hotels. We would not have engaged this individual in the time lapse that we did without their assistance. We
received information via their dispatch center and or their operation center, their call center from individuals staying within the Mandalay Bay
that helped us locate where this individual was sequestered.
Hold on, I want to finish her question. All right. And so subsequently that takes time. As you can imagine, moving from the location of the
event, deciding whether you are going to help victims evacuate, or you are going to decide whether you're going to take charge and put an element
together and go engage this individual. So, we have a lot of bifurcation of responsibilities in association, especially in a dynamic event. I want
to say, kudos to those officers that got together and said this is what we trained for, active shooter, we are putting an element together, let's go
engage this individual and locate them. OK. That's what we did. And when the security officer was engaged by the suspect, we backed off for a
apprehension and SWAT team formed and made entry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What time did the security officers --?
LOMBARDO: I don't have that time for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How concerned are you about your officers facing weapons like these?
LOMBARDO: I'm absolutely concerned. The world has changed. And, you know, who would have ever imagine this situation. I couldn't imagine it.
And for this individual to take it upon himself to create this chaos and harm is unspeakable. And, you know, we have to try to spitball or what if
these situations at all points when we train, and make sure we have proper response, and I think we did a fantastic job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, Sheriff, Mandalay Bay security identified the room before SWAT arrived?
LOMBARDO: No. Well, Yes, before SWAT arrived but not before my officers arrived. They were married or hand to hand with my officers when we made
entry over to the hotel. And it was a matter, if you recall yesterday I said between floor 29 and 32, and during that process of evaluating the
floors, we received additional information where he was located and they immediately responded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff. What time did you have (INAUDIBLE)?
LOMBARDO: I don't have that number for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did he continue to shoot until the SWAT team came in? Or why did he stop shooting?
LOMBARDO: That's for us to evaluate in the investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) bodies were found scattered throughout the venue or is more --
[16:40:00] LOMBARDO: No, they were throughout the venue. And then we had individuals who had been shot and they continued to run away and then they
passed away several blocks from the venue. We also had very heroic acts of people attending the event. We have numerous videos depicting people
attending, normal citizens, providing medical aid and providing transportation for victims to get to the hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff.
LOMBARDO: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going back to the point of how the (INAUDIBLE) warning of the approach of police officers. Is that was case and I know you don't
want to get into the mind of a bad man. But how would you judge this man's preparation and determination to do this base this type?
LOMBARDO: I don't even need that bit of information to make a judgment. This individual was premeditated. Obviously premeditated. The fact that
he had the type of weaponry and the amount of weaponry in that room, it was preplanned extensively. And I'm pretty sure he evaluated everything that
he did in his actions. Which is troublesome. I was hoping, you know, I pray that in these situations that a citizen, because we can't be at all
places at all times, that a citizen sees something and says something, and we act on that. Quite often what we experience in our line of work, a
citizen thinks it's trivial and they say, no, I don't want to bother the police. We ask you to bother the police. Because those individuals,
especially housekeeping type individuals, or any cab drivers, anybody in the public space that can assist us, we ask them to call us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff, did his girlfriend had any knowledge?
LOMBARDO: Back here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police for security fire any shots any time during the encounter?
LOMBARDO: During while he was discharging his weapons? We are not aware of that. No security guard or police other than the encounter at the room.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you expand on what went right? I know you practiced different scenarios. Can you expand on what went right?
LOMBARDO: You know what, I'm glad you asked that, Ricardo. Because obviously people have the assumption things went wrong in this type of
carnage. But what went right is we saved hundreds of lives. In this guy had an ability with those weaponry's, the carnage that could occur outside
of what did occur, a lot more was prevented because of our police action in short time and private security action in short time to save some lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff, we have all of this in the room, the camera is now gone to everything else. Yesterday you said that there had been hotel
staff inside that room during his stay. Is that still believed? Did housekeeping go in there during this time?
LOMBARDO: The only thing I know at this point is room service was provided.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff, can I ask you, I want to clarify, do you believe you are going to find the motive for this crime?
LOMBARDO: I absolutely believe that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How come his girlfriend -- do you know (INAUDIBLE)?
LOMBARDO: Yes, I do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And why is FBI trying to bring her back?
LOMBARDO: How do you know that's not occurring?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I guess that's what I'm asking. Is that was happening?
LOMBARDO: That is occurring.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff.
LOMBARDO: Yes, ma'am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are investigating (INAUDIBLE) in the last several days. How are you and your investigators doing?
LOMBARDO: I'm so glad you asked that. No, I am. I'm not being sarcastic. We are doing good. I'm actually very proud of our people. I mean, this
guy here is the local sack, Aaron Rouse in charge of the FBI. You know what's important, Greg Cassell talked about this yesterday, chief of the
Clark County Fire Department. I'm telling you right now this jurisdiction has the best partnerships, I believe, in the United States as far as public
safety. We would not be able to accomplish what we did, as you described in the last 48 hours, without that partnership.
The FBI stepped into the plate to help us with evidence documentation and prosecution. The fire department, he didn't do a good job describing it
yesterday, Greg. The fire department in our jurisdiction marries with the police officer during the critical incident. I beg you to find such a
robust type operation in the rest of the United States. Quite often what you observe in the public space is the fire department will wait until
secured by public safety before aid is rendered. Our primary mission is aid and the safety of the public.
[16:45:00] They took it upon themselves to train with us, to marry with us, and to go into the fray to assist the victims. If you look at the video,
you quite often see individuals with helmets on and vests on, those are firefighters standing next to us. So, I think it's very important for you
to ask that question. It's very important for me to convey the answer. But the next 48 hours we'll be able to tell. We've gone into incident
management mode. So, in other words people have to get sleep and nourished. Because we don't want to make any mistakes in the
investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff?
LOMBARDO: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have any indication. (INAUDIBLE) what they are doing (INAUDIBLE).
LOMBARDO: We do have some information. I'm not at liberty to say at this point. There is the guy I was just talking about. Make sure you get him
on camera. All right.
Sheriff, have you been in communication with the Philippine government to ask for cooperation of the whereabouts of Ms. Danley?
LOMBARDO: Yes, we have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple of questions --
LOMBARDO: OK. Before we get too long, and too contracted in this press interview, I'll answer your questions, Ken, and I'll answer a couple of
additional more. And then I want acknowledgment of the people standing behind me. As you can see it's our congressional delegation and other
public safety officials. And it's very hard for them to conduct federal government and local government while they're standing behind me. But I
think it's important for you to realize their community support. And they want to be there amongst everything else they do to ensure that people
understand we are bringing all resources associated with this to bear in order for success. Go ahead, Ken.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First one is the follow up to the question. That he has a day camera on a service cart in the hallway and what the security
guards --
LOMBARDO: I'll tell you what, I wish I had some of you on my investigative team, because it's amazing some of the information you come up with. But
I'll confirm it, yes, one of them was on a service cart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have another question. Is the one that I wanted to get to. You talked about motive. You talked about premeditation. You
want to learn why he did what he did. Videos, can you tell us number of interviews you'll have to do to do that? Talked about reviewing cameras,
videos, computers. Who do you have to talk to?
LOMBARDO: I'll give you a global answer on that. Yes, yes to everything you said. Yes, we are evaluating all that. I can't give you -- because
the number is changing. It's fluid, Ken, on the number of videos we are evaluating. Just on body cameras videos we have over 67 videos we were
evaluating. OK. So, you would say, well, you had a lot more officers at the event than that, sheriff. You only had 67? No, not all officers are
assigned cameras because they work in investigative function for plain clothes. But when they take on the role of special events, over time we
don't require them to wear body cameras. So, we are evaluating the cameras as we speak. We have 90 percent of that done. But then we have all the
common public space cameras that we're evaluating. And I can't remember the rest of your question, I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Also talking about computers and his cameras.
LOMBARDO: A lot of this you are probably saying, well, Sheriff, it's 2017 how come it's taking so long for you to evaluate that? Because it's
evidentiary. There is chain of custody issues associated with that. We have to ensure we are dotting the I's and crossing the T's. Because you
know there is criminal defense attorneys out there. Right? And there is this thing called the constitution. We have to ensure that we are abiding
by that. And have to ensure -- I don't know if we have possible future prosecution. You heard me say that we are comfortable that we have the
suspect in custody. But something more may come of that investigation. And I want to understand the motivation that you describe, OK. To prevent
any future incidents. And did this person get radicalized unbeknownst to us and we want to identify that source.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) --
LOMBARDO: Hold on a second then I'll answer the present question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does the congressional support include gun control?
LOMBARDO: That's not for this forum. That's a long-contracted discussion. It's not for this forum.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The President will be visiting tomorrow. Any security measure the city is taking? And if you can tell us what the
president's plan is in Las Vegas? How long is he going to be here for? I also know it's been reporting that he will meet with the local sheriffs.
LOMBARDO: I'm the only one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the mayor and governor too.
[16:50:00] LOMBARDO: You are correct in who he is visiting. And it's a matter of secrecy and operational security that I can't give you his travel
plans. And that will it be obviously provided in close proximity to his arrival.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any information that he will visit the hospital?
LOMBARDO: Ma'am, I can't answer that question. Because of operational security. But as you very well know, you have the resources to determine
that upon his arrival. And I can't speak to what his agenda is. What I can tell you on part of your question was what is normal protocol when the
president or vice president or anybody of dignitary space of that quality, we ensure their safety by the joining forces, basically. It takes a great
deal of resources to ensure the safety of the president.
And we will provide that because of our public cooperation through NHP, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, as you can imagine all the people
will come to bear. Now, an important piece on that is the president is visiting. Route 91 investigation. And if you recall, I'm the police
department, we have over 3.3 million calls a year that we deal with. So, we have to continue with our investigations, our response, and normal
police business in order to be successful. So, I ask your cooperation.
And don't get frustrated if I don't have a press conference every five minutes because I have a job to do and my folks have a job to do. So, I
want to thank everybody for attending today. And hopefully, hopefully as a result of your attendance and your broadcast, this investigation will be
not as long as I want it to be.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff, you've been very transparent as --
LOMBARDO: Can you say that again? Can you say it again, please? Say it again, Rachel?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a local reporter, you have been very transparent about Metro's de-escalation tactics in the mass shooting there was talk at
the time about a delayed police response, trying to decide when to make entry. Can you talk about the decision to make entry into Paddock's hotel
room?
LOMBARDO: Well, I'll not disparage another police department's response. But I'll tell you we quite often learn from what other people do. And
everything we do on a critical incident is based on a self-evaluation. And as a result, what occurred in Columbine, what occurred in Sacramento, what
occurred in Boston, what occurred at the Pulse Nightclub, police response has changed. By the fact that the fire department is standing with us is
monumental.
OK. So, we have found it's better instead of securing a perimeter and hoping the person doesn't continue to do acts of carnage associated with
their actions, that even a small police response will stop the suspect's actions. And so, to answer your question in reference to the Mandalay Bay,
that training we were listening and paying attention. Officers on their own without direction of a supervisor knew what they had to do.
They came together, formed a team, made a response. And they didn't wait on SWAT, OK. They said we have to stop. It's easy to say we are waiting
on SWAT they are experts in tactical intrusion. But our officers took it upon themselves to act.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you clarify that patrol officers made entry into the room?
LOMBARDO: No. Patrol officers evaluated floor by floor of the space between 29 and 32, where the suspect was, they formed the security, they
evacuated rooms, and formed a perimeter at the suspect's location. By unfortunate acts of the suspect the security guard was engaged during that
process.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was the security guard in accompaniment with officers or was he alone?
LOMBARDO: He was acting independently. He got separated from our team.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff, can I confirm real fast. Yesterday, the girlfriend is confirmed in the Philippines. Just to confirm that as a
location.
LOMBARDO: I'm comfortable saying she's located in the Philippines. You know what, just so you know I'm not giving you bad info. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wasn't implying that.
LOMBARDO: No. She was traveling. So, subsequently we have determined her location. OK, I'm sorry. And I know you have to give me some deference.
I'm currently done answering questions. OK. So, I want to thank you. Carla, do we have any idea on next conference time?
[16:55:00] Hold on. That's not gospel. OK. She hasn't talked to me yet. I put her on the spot. But we'll anticipate 5:00. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, sheriff.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: OK. You have been listening to Sheriff Joe Lombardo. I mean, what a man to have to go through this here. He gave us a lot of
information though, but I do want to point out that three victims unfortunately still are yet to be identified. We can't lose sight of that,
their families not knowing what is happened to their loved ones. Some of the highlights, the shooter shot for nine continuous minutes, apparently
the sheriff confirming that he even used when the room service carts to shoot from.
He also did confirm that he had used something on some other weapons to make sure that they were than she would automatically, so that they would
discharge much more quickly. The other bombshell from this press conference was the fact that the shooter did in fact set up cameras both
outside the hotel room and inside the hotel room. Now, joining me from Las Vegas is Art Roderick, he served as assistant director in the U.S. Marshals
office. He is now a CNN law enforcement analyst, Art, you were listening in with me, what caught your attention?
ART RODERICK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: What caught my attention was basically this was very well planned, when you talk about the weaponry that
he had, and we have gone through several different lists, what he had in his house at Mesquite, what he had in his house in Reno, what he had in the
room with himself, he basically had weapons that you would purchase for close in personal detection like a shotgun, handgun. But then he also had
a medium-range weapon, it looks to me like it could possibly be a 223 which is like a M-16, M-4 type of assault rifle.
But it looks like he might've also had a longer-range weapon, a sniper rifle, that is a 308 caliber they can reach out quite a distance. Now from
where he was in the hotel down to the middle of the venue is about 400 yards. Which is basically the maximum effective range of that 223-caliber
weapon. The other weapon could have reached out quite a distance further, and if you look at how he positioned himself in the suite with the window
on the side knocked out, the window facing the venue knocked out, he had a large field killing range in that particular area.
Basically, he overlapped his firing zones that the military does whenever they set up a shooting position. He planned this out quite a bit.
NEWTON: So, chilling to hear you say that he premeditated the fact that he would have a larger killing field, I mean, bring me up-to-date in terms of
perspective when you are a law enforcement officer. The sheriff nearly cracked there when he talked his officers on the ground having to make the
decision about whether to help rescue and evacuate victims that have already been shot, or to put together a team as they did to try and figure
out where the shots were coming from.
RODERICK: I mean that is a very tough decision on law enforcement's part to actually walk by individuals that are wounded, but the first thing that
they have to do is stop the threat. And I think they did a combination of both very, very, very well. I mean the response was quick, the security
response was quick, and they were able to do two things at once. Not only take care of some of the victims of the shooting but also make an immediate
confrontation with the shooter, and that is exactly what you have to do in these types of situations.
NEWTON: Art, it has been incredible just the details that have come out, we appreciate you joining us. And we are going to stand by because we are
going to continue our coverage, both of those two major stories happening, Art, I want to thank you, you will see him later on, on CNN. We will
continue to follow the president in Puerto Rico and obviously, development as they happen by the hour in Las Vegas. Again, just to recap from that
press conference. The shooter was shooting for nine continuous minutes, and had set up cameras both inside and outside that hotel room, his
girlfriend is still a person of interest that authorities are speaking to. That's it for QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I am Paula Newton, stay with CNN for
the latest.
END
