Show: THE BEAT WITH ARI MELBER Date: October 2, 2017 Guest: Eugene O`Donnell, Matthew Fogg, Big Kenny, John Rich, Corey Hebert
BRIAN WILLIAMS, MSNBC HOST, "THE 11TH HOUR WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS": Ari Melber will take over the next leg of our live continuing coverage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ARI MELBER, MSNBC HOST, THE BEAT: We want to show you the scene in Las Vegas right now. We are awaiting the briefing Brian Williams just mentioned. Police will give their investigative update and we will bring it to you live.
This is a city, as you may know by now, reeling from the largest mass murder in modern American history. And the questions at this hour, what motivated this now dead killer, Stephen Paddock. Authorities want to know what moved him to do what he did, if he had help and how he pulled off this mass murder after decades of living, what his neighbors told reporters was, a quiet and reclusive life.
The fatality toll now stands at 58 people and over 500 injuries.
By shooting into that crowded outdoor music festival, the killer was able to disrupt and terrorize upwards of 20,000 people, a scene of pandemonium which contributed to those injuries we have been telling you about reports of victims lying bleeding on the ground as police tipped off by smoke detectors, ultimately, were able to locate the shooter and storm him on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Casino Hotel.
Investigators are hard at work, putting together the pieces. We`re going to turn now to the press conference I just mentioned. Authorities briefing on the latest.
JOSEPH LOMBARDO, SHERIFF OF CLARK COUNTY: - of our updates in the and then we have other individuals here standing behind me. They`re going to make some comments, reference other issues associated with the today`s events.
So, there`s two things we`re attempting to achieve. one is we have to finish processing the scenes. We have three separate scenes we are working on. Actually, it will be four at this point.
So, we have the 32nd floor, the room at the Mandalay Bay. We have the event location, the house and the skeet, and then now we have SWAT standing by, getting ready to hit the house in northern Nevada.
At this point, we did that - in the last briefing, I was unable to tell you what we retrieved from the house and the skeet. We retrieved in the excess. Aaron (ph), how many firearms was it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eighteen.
LOMBARDO: An excess of 18 additional firearms, some explosives and several thousand rounds of ammo, along with some electronic devices that we are evaluating at this point.
I mentioned that SWAT is about to breach the house up in northern Nevada. And then, I`m going to give you an update on the casualty numbers. We are currently standing at 527 for individuals injured. And individuals that have died or passed away, 59.
So, what we`re doing at this point, we have several people calling about personal items located at the stadium. We are not done processing that scene yet. And once we`re done processing the scene, we will make arrangements for people that attended the stadium that believe they have personal items there to respond to the area and we`ll help you retrieve your items.
At this point, I want to bring Greg Cassell from the county fire department and he will give you an update on the Family Resource Center.
Prior to debt, I think it`s important for - and I appreciate for you to put this out. For the people`s families that are responding to the Las Vegas area, some local proprietaries have offered up rooms for the family members at no charge and that is the Boyd Group, Stations Casinos, the South Point with Mr. Gone (ph) and also Siegel Suites.
So, one more time. The Boyd Group, Stations Casinos, the South Point with Mr. Gone (ph) and the Siegel Suites. So, individuals responding to the Las Vegas area in need of accommodations, those individual properties will accommodate you.
So, Greg.
GREG CASSELL, FIRE CHIEF, CLARK COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Thank you, sheriff. My name is Greg Cassell, Fire Chief of Clark County Fire Department. As the sheriff said, there`s a couple things I want to mention.
The first off is the Family Assistance Center. The Family Assistance Center is set up right now. It`s a combination of police department, fire department, the coroner`s office and other local entities working together to provide the services for the families that are coming into town or that are still here, trying to handle what has happened with their loved ones.
They`re providing all kinds of services. As the sheriff said, many places have stepped up to provide flights, housing, food, transportation and many other things. So, that`s a wonderful thing for our community to have come forward and have done.
The facility is located in the south hall of the convention center, S2, and it`s pretty much taken up the entire south hall. There`s also a donation drop off area that`s been set up to facilitate people wanting to drop off non-perishable goods over there at that site, water and so forth.
The entrance to that is off of Sierra Vista, right - just west of this convention center area command metro building. It`s at Joe W brown in Sierra Vista.
So, I`d like to take an opportunity right now to thank the men and women of the fire departments, the Clark County Fire Department, obviously, very near and dear to my heart. Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, Henderson Fire Department and North Las Vegas Fire Departments.
We were all teamed up there last night, doing what we`ve trained for so many years we wish would never happen, but we definitely had a plan in place and we were able to execute that plan as well as we possibly could.
We had 108 firefighters on scene. We have 155 unit hours just for the Clark County Fire Department alone spent last night handling that scene, teaming up with our partners from the law enforcement to reach as many people as fast as we could and to try to do as much as we could for the community.
I also want to take a moment to recognize community ambulance. They were there as a standby medical at that scene last night. They had five or six ambulances there. They immediately threw critically-wounded patients into their ambulances and transported from that scene and also American Medical Response, AMR, and MedicWest Ambulance.
They brought all hands on deck. They brought in all of their employees. They rallied everything they could from pickup trucks to vans to all their available ambulances, to bring extra medical supplies down to a staging area for us and to make those resources available to our community during that time of need. So, I want to give a big shout-out to those private ambulance companies that have done a wonderful thing for us last night as responders.
From the fire department`s side, I`ll take a few questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you able to say how many ambulances?
CASSELL: I could not quantify that, but I have worked here for thirty years and I have never seen that many ambulances that I saw last night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tens, dozens of responders?
CASSELL: Dozens. Dozens and dozens.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said 108 firefighters. Is that 108 Clark Country firefighters.
CASSELL: That`s 108 firefighters combined from those resources I mentioned, those four fire departments.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What types of injuries were there to the people transported to the hospital? Was it mostly gunshot wounds?
CASSELL: There was a wide range of injuries from gunshots to shrapnel wounds to trample injuries to people jumping fences trying to egress and getting hurt one way or another. So, there`s a wide range of those types of incidents, injuries.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could you please explain or comment or tell us what the staging process is? As somebody said, it took a long time for people to finally get into the venue - for rescuers to finally get into the venue?
CASSELL: Well, we had multiple branches and divisions set up last night to cover that large area. And I can`t speak to how long it took them to get into that venue, but we had some good some issues right out of the shoot - or right out of the start because things are going on, we didn`t know where the gunfire, we weren`t sure it was safe to commit our people at that time.
And that some of our policies and procedures are to try and make our people as safe as possible. We know they`re going to go into a dangerous situation. That`s why we do it in a format, what`s called a rescue task force with the police departments.
Four of our personnel, three to four police officers, going into harm`s way, which is something that, even ten years ago, on this valley, would have never taken place because we had never trained on it, we had never planned on it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
CASSELL: We have no on-duty injuries of any of our emergency response personnel last night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
CASSELL: From my fire department, no.
LOMBARDO: Greg, can we give John Fudenberg (INAUDIBLE) notification to the families.
CASSELL: OK. Hey, John.
JOHN FUDENBERG, CLARK COUNTY CORONER: Thank you, Greg. Thank you, sheriff. Again, my name is John Fudenberg. I`m the coroner of Clark County.
And I`d like to, first of all, just ask that everybody keeps those involved in this incident in their thoughts and prayers, as well as the first responders, all government agencies, all of us that have come together and working on this incident. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and know that we`re working very hard to make sure that we take care of the families who have loved ones involved in this incident.
I`d like to take a moment and talk a little bit more about the family assistance center. As Chief Cassell mentioned, we have that set up at the convention center. We`re fully operational right there - right now, excuse me.
And we`ve met with multiple families. We`re continuing to interview the families. And the goal of that center is to provide families information about the identification of their loved ones and, as importantly, to collection information from them, so we can make the identifications as fast as possible.
So, we`re working very hard at making those identifications. Out of a respect for the families, I`d rather not go into any details about the decedents or their injuries at this point. I`m available to answer any questions that anybody may have. Yes, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is the Clark County coroner`s office equipped to handle these many bodies or has there been an issue with that?
FUDENBERG: Well, I would like to say we`re about as equipped as anybody in the country. I don`t know that anybody can be fully equipped to handle this, but we`ve gotten support through grant money in our County Commission.
Through the years, we`ve trained and we`ve exercised and we`re putting that training and exercising in place right now. And I think our staff, along with the police departments and fire departments, are doing a heck of a good job in handling this, all things considered. Yes, sir. You can, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to ask, do have enough space at the coroner`s office for 59 bodies?
FUDENBERG: We do have enough space right now, yes. Sir, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) has been removed from the actual shooting site itself?
FUDENBERG: As of right now, all for conformed fatalities have been recovered and they have been transported to our office, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of the 59 deceased, does that include the shooter or not?
FUDENBERG: I believe that includes the shooter, but, again, that number could be fluid. So, that number unfortunately may go up. And I don`t want to give an exact number and confirmation at this point.
LOMBARDO: It does not include the shooter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It does not.
FUDENBERG: OK. Thank you, sheriff.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How is your staff - how are you handling this?
FUDENBERG: I think we`re handling it about as good as could be expected. I think we`re all - everybody in this room, everybody in our colony right now is suffering as a result of this tragic incident. So, I appreciate you asking, but I think we`re handling it very well and our staff is doing a darn good job at that managing it. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Coroner, are you able to assess the type of injuries that led to these deaths? Were they all by gunshot?
FUDENBERG: Again, as Chief Cassell mentioned, he spoke a little bit about the injuries. I`d rather not speak to the injuries. The families want answers. And I`d like to - I`d prefer out of respect for them to give them the answers before we make those public. So, I`m not going to answer that at this time, Ken (ph). Thank you for.
Any other questions? OK, thank you very much for your time. Sheriff?
STEVE SISOLAK, CHAIRMAN, CLARK COUNTY COMMISSION: Thank you once again for being there and spreading this information to our community.
I want to reiterate what I said earlier and I want to send a special shout out to the sheriff and Chief Cassell, the men and women, our first responders that are there.
And as I said previously, when you see one of these men and women in their uniforms, please tell them thank you. They went in when everybody was running out. But for the fact of their selfless actions, we would have had hundreds more casualties than we are currently facing. There is no doubt in my mind.
I was on the crime scene. It`s horrific. And these folks did an absolutely incredible job, went above and beyond.
I want to assure everyone that it`s under control right now. Las Vegas is a safe place to be. With a safe place to visit. We encourage people to continue to come here.
We have been deluged with donations. People bringing sandwiches, bringing water, bringing blankets, bringing those sort of things. It`s almost to the point we can`t handle any more donations at the convention center.
The sheriff and I spoke to you earlier regarding the blood donations. After we brought that order this morning when the sheriff and I talked and we put out a call for blood and we have a six to eight-hour weight at all of our blood centers right now.
Donations are being given - appointments are being made for Thursday and Friday. That`s how far in advance we are.
We set up a GoFundMe account because the sheriff and I thought that we could maybe help some of these victims with funeral expenses, travel expenses.
As it relates to the families who are going to have to be coming (INAUDIBLE), we can still have over 500 emergency rooms. We started that GoFundMe and it now has 15,000 contributions. In excess of $1.2 million has been donated by generous people around the country that care about what we`re doing.
The hate that this one individual, this lone wolf rained down on our community and on the MGM Village Park was met with an outpouring of love by our entire community and we will get through this together and even get through this is one community.
So, thank you very much for being here and our thoughts and prayers are with all of the families.
REP. DINA TITUS (D), NEVADA: Well, thank you very much. I`m Dina Titus. I represent Nevada`s first district, which includes the fabulous Las Vegas Strip and the scene of this horrendous act.
So many times, I have welcomed people to Las Vegas conventions or special events. Never imagined that I would be standing here, trying to offer solace and service to those who would be harmed or killed by such an act.
My office is serving as a clearinghouse. We don`t want to get in the way of this wonderful law enforcement and first responders who have done such a good job, but we want to be there in any way we can.
We`ve gotten many, many phone calls into the office from people around the country, looking to find out where their folks are, were they hurt or in the hospital, were they killed. We`re trying to pass that information on to the appropriate place.
Couple of immigration calls that we`re trying to help with as well.
I would point out in addition to the services that have already been mentioned, Thomas & Mack opened up as a temporary refuge for people who were put out of their hotel rooms. The Clark County School District has offered its counselors to the public if they are needed.
We were contacted by Airbnb. They are also offering facilities to anybody who needs to come into town to see about family members.
The community is stepping up. We heard acts of heroism. Off-duty police officers helping people shelter, pointing out where they thought the shots were coming from. A friend of one of my staff members was being trampled. They were running out. Somebody grabbed them and pulled them into a man just to be safe, but total stranger.
We were standing on the corner, outside of UMC, and a car slowed down and said where can we go to give blood. That`s the kind of community that we have here.
Las Vegas is resilient. And with everybody pulling together, we will get through this. so, thank you very much to law enforcement, first responders, our fire department, those medical personnel who were taking care of people in the parking lots of hospitals. Everybody stepped up and we can`t say thank you enough.
SEN. JACKY ROSEN (D), NEVADA: Thank you. I`m Jackie Rosen and I represent Nevada`s third district, just right outside the Las Vegas Strip. And I reiterate what everyone said here.
Our first responders, our hospital staff, our hotel staff, firefighters, ambulance, police - and I stand before you not just as a congresswoman, but as a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend and a member of this community.
And like Congresswoman Titus said, we are a strong community. We know how to fight, we know how to be resilient and we know how to pull together, and that`s just exactly what we`re going to do.
So, today, we`re going to come together with all of our community partners, our hotels, Airbnb, our Lyft and Uber, our taxi drivers, going to do everything we can to support the victims, their families and we`re going to move forward and we`re going to do it together and strength.
So, appreciate everybody`s support that`s helped us. Again, thank you.
SEN. DEAN HELLER (R), NEVADA: Sheriff, thank you. Not a lot to add to what`s already been said here. I`m United States Senator Dean Heller.
But what I do want to add is that I`ll never forget October 1, 2017. Think about that October 1, 2017 will be a day to remember here in Las Vegas. And it`s a day that we will remember for years to come as we remember and think about how dangerous this world is going to.
I`m very grateful to the Sheriff`s department and all the first responders and everything that they`ve done.
The help and the support from people around the country, the number of phone calls that we`ve received, the condolences that are flowing into this community is second to none. And I want to thank our whole congressional delegation for working together, linking arms and try to move this community forward.
Nevada is strong. Nevada will remain strong. We`ll get through this. And we`ll all do it working together. Thank you.
CAROLYN GOODMAN, MAYOR OF LAS VEGAS: I`m Carolyn Goodman, mayor of the great city of Las Vegas.
And the outpouring of attention, love, sympathy and offers of help not only have come from around this country from mayors and governors, but also from abroad and that we want to thank for sure all of the law enforcement and first responders that have come in from other parts of the state as well as from Los Angeles to help us out here.
The number of people that have come and gotten in line to give blood has really become an issue that we`re going to learn from. We haven`t been able to keep up with it. People are frustrated. They love this community. They love what it represents. And they want to do something about it.
It`s been simply incredible. And to learn that this wonderful fund that the sheriff had set up is over million dollars, you can just feel the heartbeat of the people that call Las Vegas and Nevada home.
Most especially, in talking - and I spent last night in the hospital at UMC and over at Valley to talk to some of those who are less seriously injured, how confused they were about the issue there because, as you know, when you go to one of these outdoor entertainment and even the inner side, the arena ones, you`re usually given a bracelet identification.
And because they were upfront and because they were in a confined environment, the places to get out were less open to them, but the sounds in talking to the patients, hearing different sounds because they`re thinking it`s fireworks or it`s part of the technology of the music that`s being played, they could tell me that they were thinking it was coming from different areas.
And the fact that our first responders and law enforcement acted so quickly, so professionally and attended to the need right then and there and were able to get up into the Mandalay Bay in four minutes is simply an incredible feat.
It is something that saved thousands of lives. We had over 22,000 people there in a small area and it`s simply amazing how efficiently law enforcement and first responders worked.
You heard those words from our president. He called me on my cell phone and spoke with the sheriff and our attorney general, with whom I was speaking, and just whatever he could provide and he is coming out here.
The question is what can be done. People are asking, emails are coming, phone calls are coming in and I`m sure everyone that`s standing here has received them. This is a remarkable community of people, who are involved, who do care.
And this heinous crime, this maniac, could do such destruction to so many people - we even lost one of our members of our City Hall. And so, it`s a very difficult time. While the sun is shining in Las Vegas, it is a very dark and black day.
And as I`m sure it was said, October 1, 2017 will be one of the darkest days ever and, hopefully, never again. Thank you. Thank you, sheriff, and thank you, law enforcement, first responders. Simply unbelievable.
Tonight, at 5 o`clock at City Hall will be the first of, I`m sure, several vigils - 5 o`clock City Hall. Pastor Troy will be leading that. And I`m sure there`ll be many others. This is a loving and caring community and I`m proud to be its mayor.
MARK HUTCHISON, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF NEVADA: Thank you. I`m Mark Hutchison, Lieutenant Governor of the great state of Nevada.
The governor was here earlier and said that this has been our finest hour as a state. It`s been our finest hour as a city. It`s been our finest hour - I think among our finest hours as Americans.
If you were taken into UMC Medical Center, the trauma center there, and you were alive, you`re still alive today. You`re still alive this hour.
The amount of skill and professionalism that was shown by those doctors and those nurses and those medical professionals is extraordinary and something that we can be very, very proud of. Same is true if you went to our Spring Valley Hospital. If you`re alive, you`re still alive.
Cannot be prouder of those men and women who saved so many lives in Las Vegas today and who have saved in Las Vegas last night.
As I went into these hospital rooms throughout the day, as many of my friends and colleagues behind me, and they are my friends and colleagues, and they are true Nevadans and true Americans, they heard the same stores that I did - these heroic efforts of ordinary people from all over this country.
I`ll tell you how personal it is. I just came from Spring Valley Hospital. And there, Karen (ph) was injured seriously and was carried away from the scene.
As she said, if I had a chance to thank this individual, would I please thank him. His name is Sean Topper (ph), who carried her from the scene. And she said if you get a chance to ever get a hold of him or reach him, let him that I made it. She said that he was her guardian angel that day.
And we saw and heard story after story like this. Ordinary Americans helping other ordinary Americans. It`s a great day for America. It`s a very sad day for Las Vegas, my hometown. A tragedy beyond words.
But this is a day when Americans helped Americans make it through the night. And I say God bless them all. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Hutchison, can you clarify - could you tell us that everyone who went to those hospitals, none of them died at the hospital?
HUTCHISON: When I was at UMC today, I was told by the trauma surgeons that everyone who made it into UMC alive are still alive. There were those who were not alive when they arrived. That was the latest information that I got as well. There may be more updated information, but that was the information that I got. And I wanted to make the point that there was an extraordinary skill shown by the medical professionals at UMC.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did anybody go to any hospitals out of this state?
HUTCHISON: I don`t know the answer to that.
LOMBARDO: We have one individual - to the best of my recollection - in California.
HUTCHISON: Thank you.
LOMBARDO: Well, I want to thank everybody for coming. So, just one more certification. Besides the vigil at City Hall, there`s an additional vigil at 5 PM at the Guardian Angel Cathedral, and that is adjacent to the Encore Hotel. Guardian Angel Cathedral at 5 PM.
So, I`m happy to want some questions at this time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
LOMBARDO: We haven`t located anything of that description yet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff, tell us how many guns were found in the room?
LOMBARDO: Sixteen in the room.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sixteen in the room.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell us what kind of rifles he used to shoot?
LOMBARDO: We have calibers ranging from 308 to 223.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there any evidence that these videotapes themselves, phone or laptop or anything -
LOMBARDO: I`m not aware of that at this point.
(CROSSTALK)
LOMBARDO: One at a time please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was there any sort of surveillance that he did set up to protect himself?
LOMBARDO: I`m not a lot of that. I`ve been hearing that, but I`m not completely aware of it to testify to it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The woman that you were looking at as a person of interest that you (INAUDIBLE), now that you have found 18 more guns in their h and they apparently shared a home, do you revisit it and how could someone not know that all of that was inside their home?
LOMBARDO: I didn`t say that we were discontinuing the investigations into that female. We are continuing the investigation into that female. There are several questions that need to be answered, similar to what you proposed, but she is currently out of the country.
We`re making arrangements to contact her upon her return.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff, she`s in the Philippines?
LOMBARDO: No. I believe she`s in Tokyo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff, with those 16 guns in the hotel room, 18 from the home in Mesquite, were there any other weapons recovered as part of the -?
LOMBARDO: We had a handgun also in the hotel room. And I`m not aware of any other weapons.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) a handgun in addition to the 16 -
LOMBARDO: Yes, ma`am.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you find anything in the suspect`s car at Mandalay Bay?
LOMBARDO: Yes. We found some - I believe it was fertilizer. Is that correct, Todd (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know if -
LOMBARDO: Ammonia sulfate. I can`t recall the chemical - what is it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ammonium nitrate.
LOMBARDO: Ammonium nitrate. Within the car. We didn`t have any compounds additional to that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff, you mentioned finding explosives (INAUDIBLE).
LOMBARDO: No. I believe it was Tannerite. I believe it was Tannerite.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you been investigating any kind of a gambling (INAUDIBLE).
LOMBARDO: No, I also saw that on the Internet and presented in the Internet. I believe some journalism research produced that, but we haven`t had the opportunity to evaluate it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
LOMBARDO: No, we don`t, ma`am. We have to - part of the SWAT team is a detachment of our armored personnel or bomb squad. And we wanted to ensure that there`s no booby-traps available.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
LOMBARDO: Yes, we did.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were any of the weapons modified from the original purchase?
LOMBARDO: We believe so. We haven`t broken them down. The ATF hasn`t evaluated them yet, but I believe - I don`t know if the sear pins have been filed or whether they`ve been converted to fully automatic.
(CROSSTALK)
LOMBARDO: Slow down, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
LOMBARDO: Yes, we have. We haven`t evaluated them yet. The FBI has given us their resources to evaluate those.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would the weapons be characterized as assault weapons?
LOMBARDO: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were any of them modified or purchased automatic?
LOMBARDO: I`m not aware of that. We are aware of one gun dealer that has come forward to say that he had sold the weapons to the suspect, but we are aware of some other individuals that are engaged in those transactions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
LOMBARDO: I`m not aware of Las Vegas. We`re aware of Arizona so far, but we`re working on further.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
LOMBARDO: No, there is several suitcases. I can`t give you the exact number, but it in excess of 10.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
LOMBARDO: From the 28.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was he then methodically - just kept bringing suitcases back and forth and no one (INAUDIBLE) or maybe - it`s a big place, I get it, but -
LOMBARDO: I wish that would have happened, ma`am. I absolutely wish that would have happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
LOMBARDO: We don`t have any evidence of that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a working motive at this point?
LOMBARDO: No, we don`t.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he stay in one room, two?
LOMBARDO: I believe it was one large suite that had two rooms.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you explain what led you to the 29th floor instead of the 32nd, how you got there?
LOMBARDO: In the interaction with securities, they believed it was between the 29th and the 32nd floor and we had to evaluate each floor, moving -
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) prior to this weekend, maybe there was some talk that he might have had a Life of Beautiful (INAUDIBLE).
LOMBARDO: We are researching that. We had information that he may have attended the Life is Beautiful, but we haven`t confirmed it yet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you find the room because of the smoke detector, because of the broken window?
LOMBARDO: No, we had complaints from customers to security.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did the SWAT team break down the door?
LOMBARDO: Yes, they did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was he engaged by security before police arrived?
LOMBARDO: No, he engaged security. He fought -- he shot through the doorway and struck a security guard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was unspent ammunition found in the room?
LOMBARDO: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did they say how much?
LOMBARDO: I don`t know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was the security guard killed?
LOMBARDO: OK. Please slow down, OK. I don`t think as fast as you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does the security guard killed who was shot?
LOMBARDO: No, he wasn`t. He was shot in the leg.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, there were reports that shooter might have been employed by federal agency, is there any truth to that?
LOMBARDO: I can`t confirm or deny it, we`re still evaluating that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff, it might be a (INAUDIBLE) idea but are you and some of the casino owners and property owners starting to think about plans for re-evaluation and enhancement of security?
LOMBARDO: Target hardening? Absolutely. That`s a continuing conversation recently. Everyone is very aware of the baller project. Now was the attempt to prevent any harm associated with that. So target hardening and evaluating customers will -- continual basis.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you expand on the relationship between the man and his roommate?
LOMBARDO: We believe -- my understanding they`re boyfriend and girlfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff what`s the distance from the room to where the shots happened.
LOMBARDO: I would measure by sight just through my hunting background, an excess of 500 yards.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he use scope?
LOMBARDO: He had scope on some of the rifles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And did he use multiple rifles during the assault?
LOMBARDO: Yes he did. I don`t know how or whether he used them all or not. I don`t know that yet. We have to break them down and evaluate them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff, I heard on someone from the airport, the witness has said an officer shielded them. I just want you to expand on the role of your officers during this emergency. And you know, let us know how they`re doing too.
LOMBARDO: Yes. I mean, that`s a difficult question. It was not difficult, it`s a very hard question for me to answer because of what they did. The heroic acts. You know, quite often we`re the ones that go in when everyone is running the other way. And case in point, this event, that`s exactly what occurred. And we asked officers who are well trained to address these type of events, active shooter events, but this is different than anything they`ve trained for because the active shooter was unreachable. So -- our intent is life safety. That`s our first priority in law enforcement and I`m very proud of what our officers did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve heard earlier four minutes, was it four minutes?
LOMBARDO: I couldn`t give you -- I don`t even want to guess on the time Ken. You`d probably do a better time than me with evaluation of the video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has (INAUDIBLE) you a timeline on when they can expect the traces to be done and what do you expect (INAUDIBLE)?
LOMBARDO: I believe that in short order. I`m hoping we`ll get that -- Aaron, you have any timeline on that? I would anticipate the next day or two.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff, (INAUDIBLE) claiming responsibility for this?
LOMBARDO: Good for them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have anything --
LOMBARDO: No we have no evidence of that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff, when he was engaging with your officers, was there anything said? Did he yell anything?
LOMBARDO: I`m not aware of anything. So -- we do standard announcements before entry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff, you mentioned (INAUDIBLE) was found in the vehicle, do you --
LOMBARDO: No, not in vehicle, in the home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me, in the home. Can you give us a little bit more what exactly that is? Was this used -- were these the explosive that you use for exploding targets?
LOMBARDO: Yes, exactly. You could buy it at any gun store. I can`t -- I don`t know what the regulations is on amount, I don`t want to give you a bad amount but it is available -- commercially available.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you say how much was found at the house?
LOMBARDO: No, I can recall. I was told but I can`t recall.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff, do you have any --
LOMBARDO: Several pounds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff, do you have any information that he frequented Las Vegas often or did -- were he scouting out locations in weeks leading up to this?
LOMBARDO: No ma`am. Other than what is possibly been presented with life is beautiful and he does lives in close vicinity, but Las Vegas in excess of a year, that would be an (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did the player club card that was found in there give any indication that he was familiar with that specific hotel?
LOMBARDO: No because the player club card did not belong to him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have evidence he stayed at the (INAUDIBLE) before?
LOMBARDO: No, I don`t. I`m not aware of it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of the folks from Mesquite seem not to know who he is, they think he might have actually held his primary residence there (INAUDIBLE). Do you know where he actually (INAUDIBLE) lived?
LOMBARDO: I believe it was Mesquite. I think I saw posting -- I don`t know the accuracy of the internet -- that neighbors were familiar with the individual but he was reclusive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you walk us through at all from the minute that the shots rang out to how you guys got to the room?
LOMBARDO: No, all the officers -- this will be the last question for you. All the officers were assigned to the event. We do have officers that were inside for other events inside the Mandalay Bay as matter of weekly practice, specifically the nightclubs. So -- but I`m sure they were not aware of what was taking place, similar to the officers at the event. Officers took it upon themselves to help the customers exit the grounds and some officers took it upon themselves to immediately go to the Mandalay Bay. There was a team of six officers that approached security. They went up the elevators after discussing the situation with security and obtaining intelligence. And they checked each floor by floor until they located where they believed to be the room. Subsequently, they approached the room, received gunfire, they backed off and SWAT responded.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was there any smoke alarm?
LOMBARDO: I don`t recall smoke alarm. So thank you very much. I appreciate everybody`s time and patience. And we will update you later this evening. Todd do you have a time you want to update them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 7:00 p.m.
LOMBARDO: We shoot for 7:00 p.m. tonight for updates of any new information.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`ll back here Sheriff?
LOMBARDO: Yes, Sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
LOMBARDO: Thank you.
ARI MELBER, MSNBC HOST: We`ve been listening to Sheriff Joe Lombardo and a host of federal and local officials and members of Congress speaking on the tragedy, the mass murder in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some of the updates we heard, the death toll now at 59 victims, that`s death toll of 59 not counting the shooter. They discussed the 18 firearms that were recovered, including a range of types of weapons, several assault-style weapons that had been modified. 527 injuries is the latest count. We heard from two members of Congress there speaking in their capacity as representing their constituents in and around the Las Vegas area.
And yet as we were speaking and as you can see on your screen, debate continues in in the Congress over the last few minutes. We were showing in the corner Senator Chris Murphy who was speaking on gun control on the floor of the Senate in this hour in about 15minutes. We`re told the U.S. House of Representatives will weigh in with moment of silence on the House floor. And as we`ve been watching these scenes unfold throughout the day today, the SWAT teams also were told, according to that briefing, preparing to storm a breach on a North Nevada home. The authorities not adding a ton of detail of what or why, and declining to do so when asked.
Also, the other important takeaway from that briefing, "no working motive," again, "no working motive on exactly why Stephen Paddock did this mass murder, the highest death toll of any mass shooting in modern American history. I want to turn now to some of our experts who continue to follow this. NBC`s Chris Jansing has been live reporting for us on the ground right outside Mandalay Bay. I`m also joined Eugene O`Donnell, a former NYPD Officer, now a Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice as well as the Retired Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Matthew Fogg. On the law enforcement side, gentlemen, I want to come to you in a moment. But Chris I want your response, your analysis, and your updates, anything that comes to mind for you coming out of that briefing or what else you`re seeing in your reporting.
CHRIS JANSING, NBC NEWS SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a community obviously that remains in shock. A state of emergency has been declared in Clark County. And the numbers that you just mentioned Ari, are mind-boggling. 59 dead, as you`ve said, they`ve also upped the number of people who were injured to 527. At UMC, which is the only level one trauma hospital in this area, 104 people were admitted. 12 of them as of earlier today were in critical condition, which is why officials are saying those numbers are fluid. They fear that that death count could go even higher. But we did additional information.
Right behind me, Mandalay Bay, that is where police say Stephen Paddock took a hammer or some sort of tool, knocked out a couple of windows. He set up his guns there, some of them we heard had scopes on them, 16 in all on those rifles. But in addition to that location, the area where there were 22,000 people who literally, many of them, ran for their lives, not knowing where that gunfire was coming from last night. They went to his home in Mesquite and there they found 18 additional firearms, several thousand rounds of ammunition and explosives. What strikes me so much as someone who has covered these stories dating back almost 20 years to Columbine Ari, is that this doesn`t fit any kind of pattern that we have seen.
This is a 64-year-old man. According to his brother, he was a multimillionaire. It wasn`t somebody who necessarily would`ve seen from the outside to be unhappy with his life. He was in a relationship. He was in a nice retirement community. He loved to come here to Vegas. This is a place he enjoyed. So successful, no outward ideology and at least according to his brother, Ari, just a couple of weeks ago made a phone call like any of us might make to check on his mom who had lost power in one of the Hurricanes. The question remains here, why? Ari?
MELBER: Exactly. Chris, stay with me. I go to Matthew on the question of why. Put in context what the authorities just said. It`s early yet, but for the very reasons that Chris just outlined, the lack of any pattern or profile, no working motive here.
MATTHEW FOGG, RETIRED CHIEF DEPUTY U.S. MARSHALL: That`s the difficulty oftentimes with these type of events. And let me just also give condolences to family and friends of those who were affected by this maniac. But that`s the -- that`s the problem. You don`t know sometimes when people might change. My thought is, you know, when you have outside events that have often -- when you got so many people in one particular area, I think, you know, law enforcement, I think, what we`re going to start finding is that we would want to have counter-snipers or even helicopters you know, surveying the area, making certain that you don`t have these type of things. Because it appears to me that as we move into the future, we`re going to have more of these type incidents so we have somebody to stop it in advance.
MELBER: And that`s such a -- such a concern. Matthew Fogg, Eugene, and Chris, all please stay with me. I want to pause this discussion to go over to Capitol Hill. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro has been standing by, a Democratic from Connecticut. And I know Congresswoman that you also have to move for the moment of silence that I mentioned. Your thoughts today.
REP. ROSA DELAURO (D) CONNECTICUT: Well, certainly look, this is horrific and scale of the violence, the loss of life, 59 people, over 500 people injured. It really is a stunning in terms of the violence and the bloodshed. And my heart go out to the families of those who have lost lives and lost a loved one but to those were injured. This is --- We cannot continue this way. We say each and every time there is an event -- and we can`t go back to Columbine. We say never again. We say never again in Aurora, in Charleston, in Sandy Hook, in Orlando, and now in Las Vegas. And yes, on the floor of the House of the Representatives tonight, we will have a moment of silence and we will pray -- and we will pray for the families who have been so hurt. But the families who have been hurt and the American people need to know that we are going to do more, that we are going to undertake action on their behalf so that we can keep them safe from this gun violence. It has to stop. It has to stop now.
MELBER: So Congresswoman, that goes to what we`re hearing, I mentioned earlier in the hour, Senator Chris Murphy was on the floor making a direct argument for gun control. And he spoke out after Sandy Hook as you know. The White House today said you can`t have policy response to the incident if you don`t have sufficient facts yet. Do you disagree with that? Do you think you know enough to -- go ahead.
DELAURO: Listen, we have had -- we need a policy response because this is not a onetime incident. Yes, it is the largest mass murder that we have seen from gun violence in the United States but we have had several examples. I can recall Sandy Hook, my heart breaks every day for Sandy Hook, with 20 babies, it was a slaughter of the innocents, five adults. What we need to do now is to make sure that what we can do is to bring to the floor of the House of Representatives votes on banning assault weapons, banning high-capacity magazines, having background checks, allowing us to do research on gun violence and what we ought to do and what Speaker Ryan ought to do immediately is take off the floor of this House a bill that`s coming up this week for a vote which is to put silencers on guns.
So in fact, because you could have even more people killed and we won`t know about it until after the fact. We have to act. This is not just one time. We have enough data and enough evidence to know what we have to do. We have a moral responsibility to do something, otherwise we`re failing -- we are failing the people of this country whose lives are at stake and we are sitting here doing nothing about it.
MELBER: Strong words Congresswoman DeLauro. Thanks for making time before the moment of silence on the House floor. I appreciate it.
DELAURO: Thank you.
MELBER: I want to turn to NBC`s Jo Ling Kent who was at a blood drive in Las Vegas. What are you seeing there?
JO LING KENT, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Well, the lines are epic. And what has happened here is there`s been an all call for blood donations and the public here in Las Vegas has completely turned out in a massive way. I want to show this line, and at last -- at least about five or six hours, we were talking to people who came after work and they found that they would be waiting five, six, maybe even seven hours. And what you see here are donations in action right now. Folks bringing in water, food, all kinds of things, burritos, corn dogs to sustain everyone as they wait in line in the hot sun as the sun goes down here in Las Vegas. But what we see is an extraordinary outpouring of support and you got families, you got people who are taking day off because they heard what happened last night. They heard what happened this morning and they decided they had to do something.
And the reason that blood donation is so important is that blood donations, of course, expired as many of you guys know. You can have girls, you can donate one pint here and you can donate one pint a blood every eight weeks. Other people who`ve been standing in lines for hours as you can see they`re donating platelets, they`re donating plasma as well. And there`s this huge need not just here in Las Vegas but they say if they get anything extra, they`ll be sharing that wealth around the country. So, what we`ve got here, I want to (INAUDIBLE) can show all the different donations that have come in, the hundreds of people, maybe upwards of 1,000 people have been waiting here all day. And this is a blood center that usually closed by this hour. And instead they`re here, they`re going to stay open as long as they can to take in these donations. But what you see here is one word. It`s all about unity here in Las Vegas. Back to you guys.
MELBER: Jo Ling Kent, thank you for that report and certainly an uplifting side of what has been such a horrific day for the community. I want to go back to two guests we were speaking to right before I spoke to Congresswoman DeLauro to rejoin us. That`s Eugene O`Donnell, and Chris Jansing who as I mention on -- excuse me -- Matthew Fogg I should mention and Chris Jansing out of Mandalay Bay. Matthew, pardon my interruption earlier, I was speaking to someone right in that building behind you who wanted to make her message known before going in for the moment of silence on the House floor that we`re awaiting. You were speaking before about security measures when I interrupted, as well, I wanted your views on the patterning issue, on the profile issue because we so often hear about law enforcement looking at these cases, and this one doesn`t match up. This one seems to be a late in life act without any discernible public predicate in behavior by this individual.
FOGG: Right. It`s true. But the problem is, as we see over and over, and these things are happening even greater, each incident happening further. And we talk about the lone wolf, we talk about situation like this, we have to have some way being able to determine when these things are going to happen. If they do happen, how can we respond so effectively and quickly to where this person doesn`t have an opportunity to kill as many people. This guy was shooting at two or three round, which that round travels over 3,000 feet per second and it travels 100 yards. So you`re talking about 10 football fields.
He had enough weapons and he had enough equipment from the different houses that they`re finding out that it would seem that somebody would have known something, it would have known something motive that this guy had or was doing something. But fact is, they`re saying right now through the investigation, they haven`t found any links to this man. But if we had these guns registered or we knew how to locate these weapons, and knew where these weapons were, to me that would be a great start in maybe trying to stop this type of unknown -- this unknown element of people doing these types of things.
MELBER: Matthew Fogg, thank you. Chris Jansing, a quick final word from you, if Chris is still with us, the unity side, the support side, the community side, we just heard from elected officials in that briefing, really talking about the overwhelming support within and outside of the community in response to what one Congresswoman described as the horrific acts of one person being met by the generosity of hundreds of thousands. What are you seeing on that score out there?
JANSING: You can`t help but be heartened in worst possible circumstance by the response of people. By people who are now after waiting hours in line to give blood, signing up to give on Thursday and Friday, by the donations that have been pouring in, and by the sense of community that is felt here. If there is one, I guess, thing that people here in Las Vegas can know, it`s that we saw this in Orlando, and questions were raised, what will happen in that community that is so dependent on tourism, where people come to have a good time. And what they found in Orlando in all those theme parks was that people not only came, many of them came just to say we will not let this stop us.
Obviously, tourism is key driver here. Last year 43 million people came to this part of Nevada, billions of dollars, tens of thousands of jobs. I travel a lot not just around the country Ari, but around the world and one thing I hear repeatedly from people is, nobody quite responds like Americans do to tragedy and I think that is true. This is a community still in shock but at the same time, a community coming together.
MELBER: And thank goodness for that. Chris Jansing sharing those thoughts and that context from the ground there. My thanks to Matthew Fogg, a former Chief Deputy Marshall as well. Now, this shooting happened as country music star Jason Aldean was performing during the three-day Route 91 Fest. There are hundreds of country music fans, and many of them sadly became victims caught in the aftermath. In the hours following the chaos, some stars expressing their shock at the tragedy and discussing the way forward. We are now joined by the members of Big and Rich, Big Kenny, and John Rich. And gentlemen, I understand you had played a short time before this all broke out. Walk us through what you saw, what happened, and where we go from here when we think about music, something that unites so many people on most days.
BIG KENNY, AMERICAN SINGER: First thing we got to say our hearts just pour out to all of -- our fans and our family, our great family out there. These are the people that mean so much to us. And this -- the loss that has been suffered since last night is just -- it`s more than you comprehend even at one time. And we just pour out our hearts to these people and hope -- in some way we`re going make it through this one way or the other. And we just hoping so much that these people are still wounded in hospitals and stuff right now make it through it. And we`re just praying for all the families.
MELBER: And John, what happened? I mean, walk us through your experience there.
JOHN RICH, AMERICAN SINGER: You know, you brought up a point leading into this about you know, this town unifying around this incident. During our concert, there was a point in the show where we had brought military veterans and active duty up on stage. And we had all 22,000 people out there singing God Bless America at the top of their lungs. They all had their iPhones up in the air that was shooting those lights back towards the stage. It was just incredible, the powerful moment of unity that we saw going on.
And then just a couple hours later, you get this incredible carnage, you know. We started getting phone calls from some of our friends that were there on the ground. We had just left the venue and headed over to a little country nightclub that I own in Las Vegas and we had to lock that whole place down. Big Kenny here actually stepped off the tour bus as SWAT teams were coming down through the streets. I mean, we watched the LAPD and fire and first responders activate so fast. It was unbelievable. They were sweeping literally every street and every building almost instantaneously after this happened.
But the calls we got, some of the guys backstage said they had been thrown into pickup trucks. They were screeching out of the parking lots and as they looked up over the edge of the truck bed that they were laying in, they saw nothing but bodies everywhere, just carnage everywhere you looked. And the families were getting split up. Where we were back at my place in Las Vegas, all those people had come from the big concert and the panic and the wailing and crying that hit that room as those folks were trying to locate their loved ones and family back at the concert. It was like nothing I`d ever seen.
KENNY: There was panic in the streets everywhere and people just not knowing, you know. I guess that`s the way that fear can work and you know, lo and behold, the same rooms that we had been sitting there in the hotel that day, the shooter`s rooms were just a couple floors right above us.
MELBER: Say that again?
KENNY: Terrible.
MELBER: You were staying at the Mandalay Bay then? Just -- you were saying you were a couple floors down?
RICH: Yes.
KENNY: We were -- we were staying right there.
MELBER: What floor were you?
KENNY: I mean, we were sitting there in the hotel room that afternoon. We were watching the people come into the venue there. It was a beautiful venue, it`s just a great place, a great celebration. So I was sitting there and watching it. Then as we started seeing the reports about last night, we`re looking at these things where they were saying the shooter was coming from, and there it was just right over the top of our heads where we had been sitting in a hotel room all day long.
MELBER: Wow, because he was on 32. What floors were you guys on?
KENNY: 28.
MELBER: Wow.
MELBER: You know, we look at these, we`ve seen attacks on other music sites, concerts, places where people gather and gather to be together and to be peaceful as you were saying to give tribute to America. So I wonder, what do you plan to do? Do you plan to keep playing just like you did? What do you want to say to people who would attack these kind of gatherings?
RICH: You know, they attack these kinds of gatherings as we all know to try to strike such fear in us that we will stop doing what we`re doing. We will stop, you know, being free Americans and life loving, fun-loving Americans. And we`re not going to do that. you know, the country music fan base and the country singers, we have a really unique relationship. We know these people. I mean, we know a lot of them by their first names. We talk to them on social media, we meet them at the meet and greets. A lot of them come to multiple shows over the years. We know these people.
Our meet and greet before the show consisted of there was four school teachers that came through. There was a Vietnam veteran. There was off- duty police, off-duty fire. There were college students. There were people from Southern California, all the way to Canada that had come to this show. It was a very diverse group of people. When this man attacked this crowd, he didn`t attack country music, he attacked America. He attacked all of us when he attacked us. And like I said, two hours prior to this attack, all 22,000 of those people were singing God Bless America at the top of their lungs. I mean, it was just a powerful moment. And then just an absolute 180 when this maniac started raining down like he did.
KENNY: Did you ask us what we`re going to do? This is a -- this is a battle that`s been going on forever. And that`s the battle of good and evil. And as John was saying, you know, evil`s desire to put fear in people`s hearts and we refuse to let that fear take any place in our hearts or stop us from doing what we do, which is going out and bringing the joy to people with music. And as long as we keep that going, then we`ll always have just a little advantage over that dark side. We continue to shine the light, the great light of love in some way, and we shall overcome and keep the music coming.
MELBER: Big Kenny and John Rich, we thank you for sharing some time with us on what`s a difficult day. We`re thinking of you. We`re thinking of your fans and thank you so much.
RICH: Thank you, Sir.
KENNY: God bless.
MELBER: God bless. We have the update we wanted to give you we mentioned earlier about where we stand on this fatality count. 59 people now dead, that`s according to the briefing we brought you earlier in the hour from the authorities. More than 527 counted as wounded, many faces crippling or life-threatening injuries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR CAROLYN GOODMAN, LAS VEGAS NEVADA: I was over at UMC in the trauma unit and it`s been a very, very difficult time for us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve got first responders that are literally covered in blood.
REP. RUBEN KIHUEN (D), NEVADA: I also saw a lot of nurses and doctors that were working tirelessly to save lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MELBER: More than 100 patients were raced to University Medical Center, which is the only level one trauma center in all of Nevada.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All through the night we had operating rooms and ICUs going. Most of the patients at this point have been stabilized and are being worked on. Several will go back to the operating room again tonight. We`ve actually had other mass casualties here, but nothing as big as this. This is the biggest one we`ve had in 20 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MELBER: And today a plea from Las Vegas`s Mayor to those looking for help, to help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOODMAN: And what we ask for is blood. That`s the main thing right now, is that if our people want to do something and they are healthy, then please donate blood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MELBER: Meanwhile, the Governor of the state said today more help is on the way.
GOV. BRIAN SANDOVAL (R), NEVADA: My next step to sign an evacuation order that provides a waiver for out of state health care providers, doctors, nurses, other licensed personnel to be able to give these guys a break.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any out of state doctor, physician or nurse will be able to practice here?
SANDOVAL: Pretty much, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MELBER: Dr. Cory Herbert is a practicing physician and a Professor at Louisiana State University in Tulane. Thank you for joining us here with a limited time we have left. Over 500 injuries, how do you prioritize that?
COREY HEBERT, PROFESSOR, LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY, TULANE: The keywords are triage, triage, and triage. Basically, when you this type of situation, you really must be able to delineate who is the most injured and who has life-threatening injuries and that`s where the front lines really come in. Down in New Orleans, we`ve had lots of mass casualties from Hurricane Katrina to lots of other things that we`ve had to prepare for. And hospitals like University Medical Center in Las Vegas, they are level one, which means that they do these types of trainings to make sure that they are astute in the practice of mass casualty triage.
I know several of the doctors that are actually practicing there now and have spoken to several of them. This is what they trained for. This is what we train for. And they have done a great job in making sure that the patients that needed the surgery and the repeat surgeries have actually gotten them. And then the governor has actually done a great thing as well by allowing other doctors to have the immediate granting of privileges and licensure to come and help with this mass tragedy.
MELBER: Dr. Corey Hebert, thank you for that. And my apologies, we ran short on time, given a lot of what we are covering. That does it for this hour. I will be back here at 6:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. But our continuing coverage continues straight ahead in Las Vegas. "HARDBALL" with Chris Matthews starts now.
END
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