saved lives. >> thank you, and glad i could be here. we're following a lot of news, so let's get right to. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. to our viewers in the united states and pb add the world, you are watching "new day." it's tuesday, october 3rd. i am in the east and alisyn is in new york. we are looking at the deadliest mass shooting in modern american history. we know 59 people have lost their lives. 527 have been injured. a murderer opened fire from a 32nd floor window at the man duh lay bay behind us.

we saw one evil act. we have seen so many beautiful demonstrations of heroism and people choosing the love over hate. we saw it at the memorial last night. the victims being remembered, and so many of them are demonstrations of people that gave back to others, teachers, nurses, police employees. so many lives lost in an instant and for no reason. police found an arsenal in the killer's home and in his hotel room, 42 guns they reported so far. thousands of rounds of ammunition. explosive materials in his car. at this point the police are still investigating why he did this, this 64-year-old gunman with no criminal past or agenda. the president saying we are all united in the pain and grief

everywhere here in las vegas, and he's going to come to this place tomorrow. but in just minutes he's going to head to puerto rico where there's an entirely different type of grief on the ground there. there's a humanitarian crisis ongoing, and we have all of the news covered for you. let's begin with jegene kau saurious. >> the shooter is dead and they believe he acted alone, and the investigation continues on so many levels for so many reasons. one of his reasons was the intent. why did he do this? the amazing premedication that went into this to target 22,000 innocent people. authorities are learning more about the gunman responsible for the las vegas massacre, 64-year-old steven paddock.

police searching floor by floor until they found his room. this video shot by an nbc journalist saying at the hotel. he shot one security guard in the leg. >> all units move back. all units move back. >> police say he took his own life before a spot team stormed the room using explosives. police recovering an arsenal of 23 weapons from his hotel room, including multiple rifles, some with scopes. police say he had been staying at the hotel since last thursday in a large suite. investigators finding another 19 wep kwrubz in his howeapons in

home in nearby mesquite. >> along with some electronic devices that we are evaluating at this point. >> investigators believe the guns were purchased legally, but according to law enforcement a initial report suggests one rifle was altered to function as a automatic weapon. >> he didn't set off any of my alarms. anything that i felt like there's a problem in any way shape or form with him. he was a normal everyday guy that walks into my door 50,000 times a day. >> police say he was not on their radar with no criminal past and believe he acted alone, and his brother left stunned by the carnage. >> he bought the machine guns -- >> he's never even drawn his

gun. i mean, it makes no sense. >> he did not own machine guns that i knew of. this is something just incredibly wrong happened to my brother. >> his brother says he was a successful real estate investor, and he also had an affinity for gambling according to this couple that lived next door to pad yuck for two years in florida. >> he was a gambler and a speculator. he told us that right up front since he was from vegas, and highway did a little online gambling and did it in vegas. >> the family has a troubled past. his father was a convicted bank robber who escaped from prison in the late '60s and was on the fbi's most wanted list. neighbors shocked by the news, and some even describing him as a gentle giant.

>> you wouldn't recognize him as being anything out of the normal. >> we learned they did find a computer in that hotel room. forensic investigators will be combing it to look at what he researched and who he corresponded with, and were there any writings he made on that computer as to why he did this. >> and james, good to have you. we don't know why, and we won't know if it's terrorism, while it feels like it connotes a sense that this was a really bad, it's a term of art many shows it was determined.

he could have got all the weapons legally and he modified them to be ougautomatic fire. >> let's unpack what the responding officers had to deal with after hearing the sounds. we listen to the gunfiring, just the volume, the raw pity of shots. 1966 was the university of texas clock tower, and that was the genesis. let's fast-forward to 1998, okay. columbine happens. we have dillin and eric, and they attack a school. at that point in time law enforcement was still dealing with the law enforcement clears, slow and steady. there was never intermingling of local forces with state forces with federal forces. we learned we can't do that anymore because responding officers are not going to come from a huh phaupblg tphus unit.

i looked closely at the timeline like we were discussing before, and it was 11 minutes from the first shots that took place at 10:08 vegas time, and then 11 minutes before others arrived and were shot at and one was grievously wounded. and then it was an hour and 15 minutes until the tactic team arrived, and this is critical because this is not a skill set. i served on the fbi's hostage rescue team, and the new york city s.w.a.t. team, and these are skill sets that only full-time teams typically have. >> let's give people context for what they are dealing with in terms of atmospheric. you have to remember you react to what you encounter. listen to what they were dealing with. [ rapid gunfire ]

>> the last time i heard anything like that was i was in a war zone half a world away. how do you deal with that from a first responder perspective when you know you are dealing with automatic rapid gunfire? >> you are right. it's the sounds that we think of those that have been in combat or those that watched war movies. for the responding officers, many were armed only with sidearms, pistols that just don't have the penetration power. the fact that the subject could be on the other side of the door. these are steel frame doors, and the hotels have heavy steel doors -- >> can't just kick it in. >> tough to mechanically breach. and also the subject had weaponry, and ammunition that

could have pierced those doors, and in a subject like this, you need speed, surprise, which they didn't have, they couldn't have, violence of action and a fail-sale breach. getting him was the most important thing. >> a lot went into that window of examining in terms of multiple reports. having it at such a remote place, and knowing you were dealing with a madman and a canyon on the oth cannon on the other side. thank you very much. >> you are welcome. we're dealing with that part of the investigation. of course it matters how he got the guns and of course there's a discussion to be had. you should have it in the moment like this because this is when people are listening. but who survived? how they did it?

how they helped others? who was lost? those stories mattered just as much. how we survived these situations winds up being the legacy going forward. lisa was one of the people there in the vip section with her friends and she had to hide under the bleachers when she heard the gunshots. imagine what she had to live through. she kept shooting the video you are looking at right now. people running for their lives, helping us understand what was going on. watch a little bit of it. >> it doesn't sound like a real gun. >> it is a real gun! that is a real gun! >> we are joined by lisa fein,

and also mr. claypal. you have an explanation why you were shooting that cell phone video that i have not heard in a long time, and you were shooting that video because you wanted to make sure people got to see what was going on. >> i decided if i was going to die i wanted my family and my kid, my son and my daughter, i wanted them to know what happened the last moments of my life if i was going to die. it was terrifying. >> that is heavy. you were there, you are hiding, you are shooting with that cell phone video. what were you telling yourself -- i get that you wanted people to remember where you were and give them something to help them understand, but what were you telling yourself

about how you would get out of it? >> it was -- i don't know how i remained so calm quite frankly. it was an out of body experience, like this can't be happening. it sounded like a war zone, and the screaming and death was happening around me because the vantage point that i was at i could see people just going down as the bullets were spraying, and they were just running for their lives. they were falling. i just couldn't believe what was happening in front of my face. all those precious people. and we thought we were going to die. my friends and i, my instincts just kicked in, just get down, and the only chance we have is to take cover any way we can. we were at that particular spot that horrible night, and i said get down, get down. what was frightening to me was that people were panicking and running and i thought they are human targets right now.

it just took my breath away. you think you are going to die. you imagine the pain of what that would be like to be shot. >> thank god it just stayed as an idea for you, because for so many it became reality. brian, you are here. it was nice to be able to shake your warm hand. >> i am having a hard time watching that video. i have not seen that video. >> i think it's really hard. when you watch it, you know you made it through. but this stays with you, doesn't it? >> i am actually feeling a little guilty now. i have avoided seeing the victims and seeing pictures of the people killed, and i was there. and they're a lot younger than me and they don't get to go

home. i get to go home today, back to l.a. to see my daughter. they don't. i am having trouble understanding that, comprehending that, and feeling a little guilty. i have heard heroic acts. i am not processing, did i do enough? i am going through some guilt now. did i help enough people. everybody was screaming. and yelling. i didn't know what to do. we didn't know where the shooter was. we thought he was going to jump over the fence. we thought there could be, two, three shooters. at one point, i was running, and there was a break after the first 30 seconds of shooting and i ran and this heroic young hispanic man was, like, get in this room. i go in this room and i just

keep seeing this image of the young -- i go in the room of the bleachers, and there's five or six young women, and they were just on their knees, and they were in a corner and they were crying. i just want to hope that i did enough to help them stay calm, but at that moment i many a feeling like it's not fair. it's like you are thinking, is it fair for them to die? should i do? these are going through your thoughts. i felt like maybe i -- i stood in front of them and i did that sub con sh subconsciously. i thought maybe i should be -- you know what i'm say stphg who determines who gets killed in this? that's what i am having trouble with. based on where you are sitting or standing. a woman 15 feet from front of me she ended up dying, and i was in air an area where i did not get

shot, and i have to go through the rest of my life wondering why did some of these die and why didn't i? >> you are dealing with questions that are going to be so hard, but you are not going to get the answers all today. one of the things we know because we have been bathed in so many of these events is there's only one person to blame for anything that happened that was wrong, and it ain't you, my brother, it is that monster that decided that somehow ending his life had to be connected to ending other peoples' lives. everything you did was more than you should have expected to do. you have to tell yourself that. why you survived, and what that means for you to live, and don't spend a moment thinking about whether or not you were in any way in the wrong in a situation like that. >> i want you to know and your audience to know how beautiful those people were at that

festival, that's what hurts the most. such a beautiful crowd of people. everybody there was just celebrating life, taking a break from the everyday grind and struggles and such a beautiful crowd of people. now i have to go home and i have been avoiding at looking at who was harmed and who was killed. eventually i will see pictures of people that perished and that is going to be the most painful thing for me to go through because i probably seen some of those people and chatted with some of those people. >> at the same time you don't want the picture of that guy dominate of what people remember, and you don't want the lives stolen by that guy, for people like you to come forward and say you made it, you know, and say that that's not where it ends for you, and that your life goes on, that matters, too. does that sink in at all?

>> yeah, it creates a perception. i bumped into a guy if the lobby, and i noticed his wrist band, and he recognized me, and i said, how are you doing? he goes -- he hesitates, and he goes, i'm okay. he goes, we get to live. we get to live. and i just was in tears coming over here, we get to live. it's a mixed blessing because i feel good about that, i get to go home and see my daughter today, and today is my birthday, that's why i was out there, and that's why i came to the festival. when he said that, i had mixed emotions again. we do, but -- you see what i am saying? >> i get it.

>> do you realize we were just at a country music festival trying to enjoy life. somebody asked me the morning of the shooting, they had a great question. they said what will you do differently now that you survived? what are you going to do differently? i struggle, chris, so much with that question. i was at that concert doing what i thought i was supposed to be doing, take a break from the work -- i am a lawyer. maybe i work too much. no, stay an extra day. i was supposed to fly back sunday night at 7:50, but i was looking out of the 24th floor of the hotel, and i thought, i'm saying an extra day. when i was in that room, i thought am i going to die in that room because i made a decision to not fly on that 7:50 flight? i had to go through that as well. >> we heard it before and it's

always trite until it's true, which is everything happens for a reason. i don't have the answers for that. it's hard enough for me to come up with the questions after so many events we see again and again and the frustrations we see, but for people like you there's a blessing in these kinds of situations. while you have been talking, it's such a relatable experience to lisa. lisa has been watching and i am being told that this is hard for you, and of course it is. you were sitting there staring through your cell phone worried this is the last thing see sees, but she sees you. >> i feel like to see those heroes that stepped up and went out there while the bullets were just raining down on everybody, i saw two heroes that right in front of my face were risking their lives, and i will never

forget that for the rest of my life. i don't know if they are alive. when i saw a truck, when we finally escaped with their lives, i saw a truck that had bodies in it, and they were just piled up. somebody saving them -- i didn't know who was dead or alive. i am completely new mexicumb. i have not slept since the event happened. i cannot express to you what it was like. there were thousands and thousands of people there just living life. it's just so frightening that you can just be anywhere and you never know. the biggest thing i take away, just do not let this horrible, horrible excuse for a human being be the person that stops us from enjoying life. we need to plan and be prepared. that's all i can think about. you never know. i could have died and i was with my family last night and we were talking, and they said this

could be a very different situation. my friends and i got out alive. i still don't understand it. why. it was just the luck of the draw. if you were in the wrong place, you are dead. there are no words. it's horrific. it was a war zone. >> what does it mean to you when you are hearing lisa? what do you want her to know about what you share now that you are both trying to figure out? >> i think it's important -- what i am trying to learn through this is that there are families that are going through so much grief right now. this could be a great opportunity for us now to really minister to these families, to -- they need their faith restored in life, and this is an opportunity for people like you and i and you and people across this country to really get down

and be supportive of these families, and let them know how much we hurt for their hurt, but there is going to be hope at the end of the day. i think that's what is going to try and help me get through this. i got to get through my own questioning. did i do enough? why am i alive? why are they dead? why are they harmed? i need to start transferring that now into what can we do as a group collectively to try and uplift these families? i just can't imagine -- look at what we are going through. it's nothing compared to those that have been really harmed and who are dead. this is an opportunity. we have so much divide in our country right now, and we have to use this as an opportunity, a platform to try and come together and work together. president trump is coming. fantastic.

let's let these families know how much we care and there is hope and we will live in a better time. that's what i am trying to take from this. maybe i can make a difference. >> lisa, what does that mean to you? >> every single word he's saying is how i feel. if i was with him now i would hug him. i feel like the world is stepping up and being there for everybody. everybody knows vegas is a disneyland for adults, and we went there to celebrate and have fun. he's right. that crowd was a beautiful crowd. it was the most fun i ever had. just to see the people that i was out there with, i was there for three days, and i probably walked past people that didn't know they were going to die. i just can't -- i can't continue to think about it because it hurts so bad. those were families. they were dying. and it -- i feel what he's feeling. i just can't believe i'm alive.

i don't get it. there's that sense of, you know, guilt and what could i have done. i can't imagine anybody going through this and watching people die in front of their face. it's the worst thing. the screaming. my heart goes out to them. i hope the world just embraces the people that lost their loved ones, and understand. i do want us to unite as, you know, a united people. just not let this horrible man or people that do things like this win, and we have to take a stand and something has got to change. >> we have all lived through these before. you have seen this happen in different ways. yes, this is the deadliest one that we have had to date. we all wish we never have to say that again. what do you want people to know?

you have watched these as a viewer before. now you lived it. you are a survivor. what do you want people to know about what these events mean? >> i get asked that question, and it seems like -- it just happened. haven't even processed it all. i think the biggest thing is that i have always been a person that just loves life, and i said to my loved ones, you know, tomorrow is not promised. it's something i always have said. it means something completely different now because that statement is so real. just love your loved ones, and be the best person you can be. that's all we have got. >> hopefully that's more than enough. lisa, thank you so much for sharing what you lived through, and sharing your videos so people can understand what it was like to be there. brian, you know, lisa said she

wanted to hug you. i don't do it for you, i do it for me. i am glad you are here and i hope you figure out what to do. >> blessings to lisa as well. >> that's why we are telling the story so people can take strength in your survival, and knowing there's meaning, not just meaning to the madness but what takes us forward as well. i am sorry you had to live through to get this understanding. i hope you use it in a way that makes your life better. i really do. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> lisa, you be well. >> thank you. >> we'll keep telling these stories and stay in touch. i hope when you get home, it means everything to you and then some. >> thank you very much. all right. we are going to take a break here from las vegas. there's a big investigation going on. there are stories like these. there are people who aren't going to get to tell their own story, so we will have to tell

it for them. take a moment and look at some of the faces that were lost.

welcome back. we have breaking news because

the president just boarded air force one and is on his way to puerto rico to deal with the aftermath of the crisis there. before he left he spoke briefly with reporters. here's what he said. >> look, we have a tragedy. we're going to -- what happened in las vegas is in many ways a miracle. the police department has done such an incredible job, and we'll be talking about gun laws as time goes by. but i do have to say how quickly the police department was able to get in was really very much of a miracle. they have done an amazing job. go ahead, jim. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]. >> i think she's come back a long way and acknowledged what a great job we have done. people are looking at that. in texas and florida, we get an a plus, and we have done just as

good in puerto rico and it was a tougher situation, and now the roads are cleared and communication is starting to come back. their drivers have to start driving trucks. we have to do that, so at a local level they have to give us help. i will tell you the first responders, the military and fema, they have done an incredible job in puerto rico. whether it's her or anybody else, they are all starting to say it. i appreciate very much the governor and his comments. he said we have done an incredible job, and that's the truth. >> reporter: [ inaudible ]? >> we'll talk about that later. he was a sick man. a demented man, a lot of problems. we are dealing with a very, very sick individual. thank you. thank you. thank you very much.

>> well, david gregory is here with me to talk about the challenges facing the president in the day ahead. what did you just hear there, david? >> the president was talking about las vegas. he was cryptic when he said we will talk about gun laws later. he doesn't want to get into such a politically difficult issue today and probably not tomorrow. there will be questions about how and whether the president will weigh in on any kind of gun restrictions. we know what a difficult debate. he may be more willing. he supported gun restrictions in the past, and he has a political base that will be against that. >> we heard bannon throw down the gauntlet and say that would be horrible for the base if the president was to have any movement on gun control. let's talk about puerto

rico. coming out of the white house, if only the local truck drivers in puerto rico would show up, there would be a crisis solved. there's a massive fuel shortage. there's not just trucks waiting for the drivers. general buchanan said the number one challenge is there's not enough fuel and the roads are impassable. i don't know -- i don't understand about the blaming of the truck drivers. >> i don't get why it has to be about him. it's really appalling as the president of the united states -- there are local leaders frustrated. he may think that's legitimate or illegitimate. the bottom line is they are frustrate and everybody can understand that. he will go down there and marshal resources to help, and he ought to be speaking about it

in those terms. the government is here to do as much as it can to help with local officials and protect our people, and he gets in his own way by lashing out at people that criticize him, and fema is doing what it can and he has an excellent homeland security adviser in the white house, and it's fundamental in terms of what the government is supposed to be doing. it raises the potential for awkward meetings on the ground in puerto rico. >> we know the mayor of san juan is going to be at some of the hearings and that's who he has engaged in with most of the war of words because she made a passionate plea to say we don't have enough food and water. she is saying please help us, and she is saying we will roll up our sleeves if need be, but

give us access. this is air force one as it heads off to puerto rico. that will be interesting when he and the mayor meet each other. >> and there's the moment we are in. we are experiencing a national tragedy because of a mass murder on the scale of we have seen in las vegas. we are experiencing natural disasters, one after the other, that are not just taxing leadership and raising questions about how government can respond, but there are longer-term problems. this is different than the kind of basic competency questions any administration faces. how he handles these moments will say a lot about how he's viewed as a president that can get things done. this is the core of how you lead. how you lead the government. how you deal with events that you could not have foreseen. that's what -- and how leadership is defined. we have seen presidents defined that way in the past. in our recent history this

becomes a very important moment for the president to look deeply within himself about the kind of leadership he wants to project and provide and who he will re-lie on. >> it will be interesting to see how he goes to the more remote areas and see with his own eyes. >> it could be difficult for him to get out to remote areas because of the affect of what that could be. the bottom line, his presence there is to say to puerto ricans and the rest of the country to say we are in it for the long haul. let's go back to las vegas where chris is reporting on the aftermath of the crisis there. >> two quick things. the president is not going to have to travel far to see the need in puerto rico. we didn't go far on purpose. he will learn firsthand what it

means to have the strength of character and of purpose that the people on that island have. they have everything inside of them they need and it's what outside that is in short supply. we hope he gets that when he's on the ground. here in las vegas, we wish this was a complete shock, what happened here. we know it's the worst of its kind, the massacre of 59 people, more than 500 injured. yet it can't be entirely a shock. we have seen too much evil. too much repeated. too many patterns. joining us now is the latest leader to deal with the k catastrophe, the mayor. by all accounts you have been doing your job and doing it well. we know you heard the show this morning and you heard a couple of the survivors who got through and it's a horrible struggle for them to reconcile having made it

through and have that blessing, and dealing with what it means. there are so many in their position this morning, madam mayor, it's not easy. >> there's a latin phrase, seize the day, and i think for all of those who survived, what you do with your life, how you stop asking what other people can do but see what you, yourself, can do. we are so blessed we have the survivors, and so tragically distraught about what has happened to the 59 innocent people that came to our wonderful community to enjoy a wonderful country western activity and show. i must compliment our first responders and law enforcement. i know you have heard it again and again, but they didn't just happen to do their jobs.

they have been so well trained. this is such a safe community. we have 43 million visitors every year, and 250,000 a weekend or during the week. our law enforcement or first responders or hospitals, we're always ready. not that we want to be put into action. we have so much going on here, our convention business is enormous, and yes, it's a place where our community just is brought so deeply down to its knees right now, and responding with giving blood and waiting in line, five and six hours at the blood banks. we have all these people, when i drove home last night at about 10:00, there were more people out there with rental trucks delivering bottles and food and things to the hospitals for the families there tending to their loved ones who still remain in the hospital situation. it is something. this will not define us.

this crazy man will not define who this community is or the people. we need to concentrate on the beautiful lives, these innocent people, who had families, and they are here and they will live with this forever. those who are visiting or have seen your show or have been on social media, this is another sad, sad day in the world. it really is in the world we know. we have these sick, sick people that are bound to go ahead and repeat it. they will not define who these people are in the community, anymore than all of us who love this country and love freedom and know that each one of us have a responsibility to do our individual part, to make it better, and to stop this from happening. >> madam mayor, when something

like this happens, one of the after action points, one of the lessons is what do we do now to prevent this the next time? some of the remedies make sense until you have to imagine them as a common practice. are you going to magna tom tur, have people go through something, and that would extend the time of getting in and out of hotels, and that sounds like a frivolous concern in light of the tragedy, but is that going to be on your plate now to consider? >> i do have some concepts. keep in mind, that's private business. those people that run the businesses will determine what they are going to do. i represent the city of las vegas and i represent las vegas to the world. our people are prepared. that's what we are supposed to do. we are to be preemptively

prepared. the first thing i did when i first took office was to go back to maryland and spent five days with a huge team of people so we knew immediately what we were to do in a first response. our people are so professional. they were exemplary. even if they just had gotten off that day, they were back there. i mean, a full, full staff. every hospital responding. this wonderful community, this diverse community, coming in and bringing food and doing everything they could, and standing in these long lines to give blood because we asked them, they said what could we do? right now we want to do something and please let us help. and the reality was blood and funds. the sheriff set up an account and within 24 hours we had over $2 million in the account to

help the family and friends of the lost 59 innocent lives. so it's the role of government to be there. >> well, we will stay on all of the investigating, what we can learn about how this was able to happen, how it was responded to, and hopefully we all wind up in a better place. madam mayor, thank you for joining us this morning. i know it's a difficult and busy time for you. >> thank you. a big part of this story is the response to the evil. there were first responders that had to jump into action when this began in las vegas. the city's fire chief will join me next. as we have been doing this morning and for days to come, do not forget who was lost in this situation, please. take a look at the victims in this attack. ♪ ♪

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right now this could have been worse. there were thousands of people who were sitting ducks for a man with loaded and armed to the teeth. joining us now is clark county fire chief greg casting. he is one of the first responders that jumped into action. chief, thank you for making the time to be with us, brother, but when we look at the timeframe and variables, you can never train for a situation like this. how did the first responders negotiate this situation and act? >> we never trained for a scenario like this, somebody so well armed 32 stories up with an open venue across the street. we train for hostile mci's frequently, it's what we call rescue task, and we go into harm's way so we can get to

people fast. we know that immediate combat care is what is needed. we trained on that and never anticipated anything of this magnitude. >> when you were getting into it and you were hearing the reports of how many and we never heard fire like that here, and that is war theater stuff, you know, a world away. how did you process the need? >> well, one, i have to say my men and women and the men and women of all the police and fire departments did a wonderful time sunday night. by the time i arrived the shooting was over, thank god, but my men and women were engaged and some i have known for years and they are wounded by this mentally and we have scars to heal up of our own. >> you are the best of us. that kind of fire, that duration, that number of injured, how close was it to being overwhelming for you guys?

>> it pushed us to the brink, but we were not overwhelmed. hundreds of patients came in, and some critical and some mortally wounded, unfortunately. they did what they were trained to do and what we planned, but it was on a larger scale. they broke the area into chunks and managed. >> one of the things that i think is important to talk about. it sounds insensitive but this is what i am talking about. we hear from the guys on the ground, and i was talking to them last night, the kinds of rounds this guy was using, and it's automatic fire and speed matters when it comes to bullets and their destructive power. this guy probably knew the way he was doing this, he was going to send rounds that would go through multiple people and it would expand his effectiveness. that's something you guys had to deal with and it's something people had to know at home also,

and i'm not get into a discussion for you and that's for our leaders for them to take on, but that is the reality on the ground, is it not? you must have been seeing that with your first responders, that you were seeing wounds. >> yeah, the weapons were not good things to be in play. >> thank god you guys were here to triage and deal with it and kept so many people alive, and hopefully they make it out and live their lives and they are part of the story of how we endure tragedy. you are he you are he you a you are hereios for a reason. president trump is on his way to puerto rico almost two weeks after hurricane maria almost destroyed the island. we will get a report on how the relief efforts of going today. that's next.

president trump is on his way to puerto rico as we speak. the president has already described the federal response to the disaster as fantastic. and leyla santiago tell us what you see today and how it differs from all the days you have been reporting? >> reporter: this is the distribution center. you can see already people at work and there are lines outside. here it is. this is the aid from fema. this entire row. i have got to tell you, two days ago i was here and there was not even half of this.

this is significantly more fema aid that is coming to the distribution center this morning. what i did was track it from the moment fema arrived in puerto rico or this aid arrived and how it gets to some of the smaller outer lying areas. i want you to see what we found. now on the move, help two weeks after hurricane maria. so these are meals that are now being handed over from the federal government, fema, into the hands of tpuerto ricoen national guard. after an hour and a half following the convoy, one truck peels off still baring the scars of maria in southwest puerto

rico. badly-needed water. food. it's the first time the national guard delivered aid straight from fema here according to town officials. but it's not all for here. the rest goes down the road to another community in need. the vice mayor in this mayor of more than 20,000 admits the lines are getting longer. i am asking him if this is enough. frustration is growing. >> there are people here who need other people. please do something. >> is the government doing enough? >> not enough. >> if this would have been the united states, none of this would have been happening. >> this is the united states. >> a lot of people don't know it's the united states. they don't treat it like the united states. >> the food sent by the government barely makes a meal. >> there are 20 of these in the boxes, and they are an emergency meal, and each has crackers,

raisins, granola and vienna sausage for them to take home. less than an hour later, the announcement comes. there is no more food. >> she says she's sad there's no food left but at least there's water that she can get now for later. >> federal help is arriving, but it's not nearly enough for everybody in need. the wait continues now for more water. for more food. for more help from fema. >> so you can see, alisyn, the fema aid is here, the problem for many is getting it -- getting it to the areas that are more remote outside of san juan. a quick antidote, when we were there, the water packages coming in, they were dividing them in

half and giving them to the people so they could reach more homes. alisyn. >> so helpful to have you on the ground so we could see with our own eyes all of the challenges that face fema and the help there. thank you for that reporting. we want to go back to chris. >> anybody on the ground in puerto rico, it's not just about the riders. those getting food, at least they knew where it was. when the president sees it firsthand, and he won't have to travel far to see it, there will be things that change even more. so here in vegas, we are dealing with the catastrophe of a different order and type. the same impact. country singer, jason al dean, we all know him now because he was onstage when a gunman opened fire. he just released a statement on

instagram. over the last 24 hours i have gone through lots of emotions. scared, anger. heartache. compassion and many others. i truly don't understand why a person would want to take the life of another. something has changed in this country and world lately that is scary to see. this world is becoming the kind of place i'm afraid to raise my children in. at the end of the day we are not democrats or republicans, whites or blacks, men or women, we are all humans and we are all americans and it is time to start acting like it and stand together as one. >> he goes on to say that's the only way we will get this country to be better than it has been and we have a long way to go and we have to start now. my heart aches for the victims and the families of this senseless act. i am sorry for the hurt and pain everybody is feeling right now and there are no words i can say to take that pain away. know you are all in my heart and prayers as we go through this together. time to come together and stop

the hate. chris, nobody could have said it better. i think everybody fears for their children right now, and we don't want to be in a world where this becomes commonplace. >> the world is what we make it. we will keep covering this massacre here in las vegas. we will cover the president's trip to puerto rico. we have cnn "newsroom" picking it up with poppy harlow and john berman, that's right now. ♪ good morning, everyone. it's the top of the hour. i am poppy harlow. >> i am john berman. no answers as to why a 64-year-old gambler carried out the largest mass killing in our history.