Transcripts For KQED BBC World News America 20171003

Crystal blue caribbean sea. Nonstop flights are available from most major airports. More information for your vacation planning is available at aruba. Com. And now, bbc world news. Laura this is bbc world news america. From washington, i am laura trevelyan. The motive from americas worst mass shooting remains a mystery. What drove Stephen Paddock to kill 59 people . President trump he was a sick man, demented man, a lot of problems. A lot of laura the identities of the victims are beginning to emerge, and the stories of those who try to help. 13 days after Hurricane Maria, President Trump arrives in puerto rico, making his own comparison with hurricane katrina. Laura and he was one of the acrosslling rock stars for decades. We look back on the life and sound of the legendary tom petty. Laura welcome to bbc world news america. Law enforcement officials are trying to unearth what motivated Stephen Paddock to massacre so many defenseless people. He stockpiled an arsenal of weapons in his hotel room. Morelled 59 and injured than 500, firing for more than nine minutes. A dozenound more than firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and explosive material. Reporter shots fired. Route 91. Sounds like an automatic firearm. Reporter sunday night in las vegas, and the first reports of something going terribly wrong. Coming from upstairs in the mandalay bay upstairs, mandalay bay. Halfway up i see the shots , coming from mandalay bay. Reporter the stress in the voices in the police are evident. They have located where the firing is coming from and the impact hes having. We have an active shooter in the fairgrounds. Multiple casualties. Multiple casualties. Reporter paddock is now dead, and police are searching the hotel room on the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay, which became his armory. At a News Conference, Police Revealed that paddock had set up cameras. There were cameras located outside the room and inside the room, along with firearms. He had set up so many cameras . I dont know the specific numbers. I anticipate he was looking for anybody coming to take him into custody. Reporter so what do we know about Stephen Paddock . The 64yearold was a former accountant who invested in property and was a serious highstakes gambler, but he had no criminal record. He lived in this house in the quiet town of mesquite, 80 miles from las vegas, with his partner, marilou danley. His father was a bank robber, who, while on the run from authorities, was described the by the fbi as a psychopath with suicidal tendencies. The president on his way to puerto rico and will be visiting las vegas tomorrow, had this to say. President trump he was a sick man, demented man, a lot of problems, i guess. We are looking into him very seriously. We are dealing with a very sick individual. Reporter meanwhile, more details are emerging about the massive arsenal that paddock had assembled. Some came from this shop in utah. Average every day joe. Nothing stood out. It was normal for him to come in. He was talking how he was new to the area, visiting all the firearms stores in the area. Found something on our shelves that he really liked, and it took him a couple of different trips, i guess you could say, before he ended up purchasing. Reporter paddock came here too to buy a rifle and a shotgun. The owner of the shop said the background checks were fine and there were no red flags. An expert on the guns industry on television was asked, how much ammunition are you allowed to buy . The answer was simple. How much money do you have . Did night, normal people what normal people do in the face of such tragedy. They came together to commune, to remember those killed and injured. America has been here many times before, and in all likelihood, will be here again. On this, history does repeat itself regularly. Bbc news, las vegas. Laura a brief time ago, i spoke to our reporter at the scene of sundays attack. Reporter im here at the mandalay bay hotel, which is where the attack place. You can see behind me, there is still Yellow Police tape. This is still very much an active crime scene. As we discussed earlier in the program, police still do not have a motive for the attack. All the things we learned in that recent News Conference where that they found cameras that were set up inside and outside Stephen Paddocks room in this hotel, as well as more than 20 firearms. They say they dont have a motive, but they believe they will find one. They do believe it was a premeditated and preplanned attack judging by the type and amount of ammunition and firearms they found. Questions do people that you have been speaking to in vegas have in the wake of this mass shooting . Reporter there are a lot of questions that people are asking about security here, hotels, and big resorts. People come to las vegas from around the world. The other sense here is really just about how this community is coming together. As you know, this is not the first mass shooting i have covered as the north american correspondent, and certainly might not be the last, unfortunately. One thing i notice every time is the unbelievable resilience a community has in the wake of these tragedies. That is something i have seen here. I have spoken to nurses and volunteers , who have all pitched in to help people. The woman i spoke to earlier said that when she heard what happened, she jumped in her car, drove here, and drove back and forth to shuttle people back and forth to the hospital. There are still hundreds of people being treated across the city. The focus for a lot of people is making sure they get well soon. Laura how does the city seemed to be coping with all of the injured . There are a lot of hospitals here that are treating people. I spent some time yesterday at the level one trauma here at the University Medical center, which has taken some of the most seriously injured. I spoke to one of the surgeons. They do have drills for these things. A couple of times a year, they have drills that prepare them for the eventuality of a mass shooting. At the hospital, they recently had medics who actually worked at the orlando shooting, who came over and share their insights, not knowing what was going to unfold a few weeks later. Thoseith all of that, doctors i spoke to say nothing can really prepare you for the scene they saw in those hospital rooms on sunday night. Laura thank you for joining us. For more on the police investigation, i am joined by a former special agent with the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives in philadelphia. What will the atf agents at the scene in las vegas be trying to establish right now . First of all, they will be trying to establish how mr. Paddock was able to obtain the firearms. My understanding is that most of the firearms, if not all of them, were actually purchased by paddock legally in the u. S. They were purchased from several different states, but again, all purchased legally. Laura what do you make of the kind of automatic fire weapon that the gunman seems to have used . Theres a couple of different weapons that were within the hotel room could have been made to fire auto. I think anyone watching the video clip and listening to the sounds of firing of the weapon in the video clearly can see, and i can tell you it absolutely is fully automatic fire, so thats another thing that the agents will be looking at, to try and determine what kind of accessory was either placed on the weapon to enable it to fire ifa fully auto manner, or there was any modification made to the firearms to allow it to become a fully automatic firearm. Laura the police were talking tonight in the briefing about stock. Ng called a bump is that the kind of modification you are talking about . Yes. One modification would be actually what is called an automatic converging kit that allows you to utilize certain parts to convert a semiauto rifle into a fully automatic rifle. That is one way of doing it. The second way would be with this accessory which is, legal at this time, called a bump fire stock or a slide fire stop. Stuck. When placed on a semiautomatic rifle, and allows the individual to shoot in rapid succession, which mimics fully automatic fire. Laura Stephen Paddock had 42 weapons and piles of ammunition. If you dont have a criminal record, is it legal to amass a stop like that stockpile like that . If theren the u. S. , are no prohibiting factors like a criminal record, or if you have ever been adjudicated as having a Mental Illness or Mental Health condition, as well as several other prohibited factors, it is perfectly legal to purchase these firearms. Laura in all your years at the atf, did you ever see a case like this where the gunman had this array of automatic or semiautomatic weapons . Not with automatic weapons. Ive been doing this for 29 years, and there have only been a couple of other instances during an actual crime where automatic weapons were deployed. A scenario like this i have never seen. Never where you have an individual just fully intending to kill as many people as he could. The police said tonight this was extensively premeditated as well. What do you make of that . Absolutely. To get those many weapons into the hotel room with that much ammunition, and setting up your shooting platforms, and he was therefore several days before the incident, he absolutely carefully planned this out. My belief, intending to do maximum damage, killing as many people as he could. Laura thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Laura stories of heroism and compassion are emerging from the agonizing scene on the las vegas strip. Somee became lifesavers, running back into the gunfire. We are learning more about those who killed were killed. Among those, a grandmother, and a teacher. James cook reports on the lives cut short. Reporter lives wasted. Families broken. Futures stolen the faces of the dead and the mrs. Missing tell so many stories. Las vegas is a city in pain. How are you doing now . I think im ok. Reporter its also a city of heroes, like brian hopkins. Hes the lead singer of the band elvis monroe. When the shooting broke out, he led a group of people into a freezer to shelter from bullets. I saw a guy go down in front, another guy here. When i turned, it was bang, bang. Two girls go down behind him. Its like this behind us. We are running. Im just like, we are going to be ok, just run. You can hear it hitting the metal on the stage. It is ricocheting off of stuff. Whats going on out there . Reporter this was their refuge, where they shivered in fear that the gunman was about to burst in. Its ok. Someone is shooting at a jason aldean concert. Reporter it had two doors on it, and i looked, and there were people in it. I said, lets go, everybody in. Reporter when they got out, there was only one thing to do. We are running and there was bodies, bodies, bodies. The girls started to panic. Nicole said, i want my dad, i need to call my dad. I said that we needed to run. Reporter Taylor Winston is another hero. He was dancing with his girlfriend moments before the massacre. The former marine commandeered a truck to drive survivors to hospitals. I saw a field with a bunch of white trucks. I tested my luck to see if any of them had keys. The first one we tried opening had the keys sitting right there. I started looking for people to take to the hospital. There were too many. It was overwhelming how much blood was everywhere. Once we drop them off, we had to go back. Reporter this is where the most seriously injured people were brought on sunday night. They say it was like a war zone, dozens and dozens and dozens of patients arrive, more than 100 in all. And the battle to save lives here is continuing. But there is only so much anyone can do. Bob patterson lost his wife in the massacre. Person. Fe was a great she was very active in the church. Brought up my three kids. I was with her for over 30 years. I cant believe shes gone. I have my two older kids with me. My eightyearold daughter is at home right now. I dont know how im going to tell her. I have no idea. Reporter the grief is both personal and extensive. The scale of the suffering inflicted here is difficult to comprehend and even harder to bear. James cook, bbc news, las vegas. Laura the lives ruined and the dreams ended on the vegas strip. You are watching bbc world news america. Still to come, the most weeks after Hurricane Maria hit puerto rico, President Trump travels there and rejects criticism of the relief efforts. Laura the british Prime Minister theresa may has denied her cabinet is split over brexit. Tensions in the u. K. Government have been at the center of discussions in europe, with members of the European Parliament criticizing what they say are divisions leaving them unsure of who exactly is in charge of britains side of those complex negotiations. From strasburg, here is our European Parliament correspondent adam fleming with more. Reporter its not going well. The eus chief negotiating ans at theird gleaming home and strasburg. On from talks about Brexit Issues to talks about the future relationship. They say britain is to blame. The Prime Ministers speech butlorence was considerate, speeches are not negotiation positions. Work still remains to be done. We have not yet made sufficient progress. Reporter a few, a very few, think it is the other sides fault. You have treated us as if we are some kind of hostage. Unless we pay a ransom, unless ,e meet, all of your demands then you wont even have an intelligent conversation with us about trade heading on from here. Who sit inhe meps these seats will only have a deal. Say at the final this is all about sending a message to eu deal leaders, because they will decide how the process is going when they sit for a summit in a four night. The British Government says the focus is on the next round of talks next week. They are crossing their fingers for a breakthrough. Adam fleming, bbc news, strasburg. Laura President Trump went to puerto rico today to see for himself the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. It has taken mr. Trump 13 days to visit the island, the same amount of time it took president bush to visit new orleans after hurricane katrina. The president made reference to katrina, saying maria was just as bad in terms of damage, but not in terms of the death toll. We report from the capital of san juan. Reporter 13 days after Hurricane Maria tore into puerto rico, donald trump swept in and officials, some of whom had criticized the time it took the u. S. To take the disaster seriously. The president may not have pleased others in his company with some of these opening remarks. President trump i hate to tell you, puerto rico, you have whack. Our budget out of we spend a lot of money on puerto rico. Thats fine. We saved a lot of lives. But ifeath is a horror, you look at a real catastrophe like katrina and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that died, and you look at what was really a storm that was totally overbearing, no one has ever seen anything like this. What is your death count at this moment . 16 people, certified. 16 people versus in the thousands. Reporter donald trump did go out to meet those affected by the hurricane. Others told us they were skeptical about the visit. There are people that lost everything, so we need help. U. S. Is going the through a situation in las vegas the puertoing, but rico people are part of the u. S. , too. Im not very infatuated with this because hes not interested in helping us. Reporter recently, we have seen the kind of devastation Hurricane Maria wrought here. Thousands lost their homes. Most of the three and a half Million People are still without electricity. Laura a little earlier, i asked our reporter to tell us what people in puerto rico had to say about the president s visit. Reporter it was only those we told about the president s remarks who know about it, because of course, so much of the island is still without power. Mobile phone communications are down for more than 90 of the population. They didnt even know he was coming, most people. They have not even known about the row. But it has upset those that we have told that he is talking about how much this is costing the u. S. , and his comparisons to what he called a real catastrophe in hurricane katrina, and that people. Here should be thankful they didnt lose more the reaction is that they are not complaining about the loss of life or not, they are complaining about how long it took the American Government to respond to this catastrophe. Remember, this is a hurricane that tore right across center of this island, a category five hurricane that destroyed so many homes. Thousands of people are still homeless and living in, for example, classrooms, many without mattresses. They have a very urgent things to do. They dont feel the response can quickly enough, and even after Donald Trumps visit they still dont feel that happened. Laura thank you. In other news from around the world, king philly bay of spain has reaffirmed the need for spanish unity and criticized catalan voters. Cubans. Has expelled diplomats after mysterious acoustic attacks on u. S. Staff at its embassy in havana. U. S. Employees suffered hearing loss and brain injuries. They issue has prompted the u. S. To withdraw more than half diplomats from havana. The 2017 nobel prize in physics has been awarded to three americans for detecting gravitational waves. Describeonal waves the stretching and squeezing of spacetime that occurs when huge objects accelerate. This was originally predicted by albert einstein. The biggest names in rock music have been paying tribute to tom petty, who has died at his home in california. He sold more than 80 million records worldwide, among them hit singles like i wont back down. His band included the heartbreakers and the traveling wilburys. We look back at the life of this musical giant. I wont back down reporter tom petty only ever had one ambition. As a child, he met elvis, then came the beatles. His heart was set on rock n roll. His songs were rooted in real life his band. The heartbreakers, old friends from his home state of florida that he bumped into one night in the studio. I came down to the studio, and this band was in the room. They were all people i had known. So we played that night and it was so good, i really enjoyed it, so we formed the band within hours. We were on the album the next day. He was kind and gentle and sincere. I think that is one of the things people most admired about him. He wanted rock n roll, he was in a rock n roll band, he loved what he did. He didnt want people telling him what to do, and he kept true to his music all the way through. It was another chance encounter that led to him joining bob dylan, george harrison, and roy orbison in the traveling wilburys. And attributes today were a rollcall of rock aristocracy. Reporter finally this from his daughter. His final tour and it only days ago. He said it would probably be his last. Rock n roll had been his life, and he wants to make the most of what time he had. Laura remembering tom petty. Im laura trevelyan. Thank you for watching bbc world news america. With the bbc news app, our vertical videos are designed to work around your lifestyle, so you can swipe your way through the news of the day and stay up to date with the latest headlines you can trust. Download now from selected app stores. Funding of this presentation is made possible by the Freeman Foundation and kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. Planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. You can find it here, in aruba. Families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm sunny days, cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. Nonstop flights are available from most major airports. More information for your vacation planning is available at aruba. Com. Bbc world news was presented by kcet, los angeles. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc woodruff good evening, im judy woodruff. On the newshour tonight, las vegas mourns hospitals remain full with the injured, while authorities struggle to learn a motive for the deadliest mass shooting in modern american history. Then, President Trump arrives in storm ravaged puerto rico amid criticism of sluggish federal relief efforts tonight we look at one schools for our america addicted series, tonight we look at one schools efforts to help teens fight Substance Abuse high school is hard in general, but its even harder general, buthen you have this et or extra pressure on your shoulders. Woodruff all that and more on tonights pbs newshour