[ bell ] xxxx . good morning. i'm phillip mena with a special edition of "early today." new details emerge in the horrific mass shooting in las vegas, the worst in modern american history that killed dozens and injured over 500 others. police are investigating the shooter, identified as stephen craig paddock of mesquite, nevada. police believe he killed himself before police entered his room. according to the associated press, officials are saying paddock had two devices which could have converted semiautomatic weapons to fully automatic ones. he was able to unleash hundreds of rounds of gunfire from the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay hotel. he shot

gun shops confirmed they sold guns to paddock. the gun shops say their sales were legal, and at least one of those stores claiming paddock passed an fbi background check. one shop owner in utah said paddock bought a shotgun from him. >> it was just a normal timing for him to come in. he was talking how he was new to the area. kind of 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. >> the investigation continues. we learned more about the gunman's past. newly obtained security footage shows paddock sitting in a green striped shirt in the cosmopolitan hotel, he sued the hotel for $100,000. he lost the case and still owed court fees at the time of the

are held in las vegas. some waiting five hours to donate blood. a local congresswoman described the overwhelming response to this massacre. >> the whole day has revolved around that act. it's been police briefings and talking with the fbi, visiting hospitals, all the things that kind of are associated with an act of war. but we also heard stories of individual heroism, people helping others through the gate, over the fence, sheeding their bodies, standing in line for blood. those are the kind of stories that we need to focus on. >> police have issued a new phone number to call, so people from outside the vegas area can check for information on missing loved ones. and local officials have set up a go-fund-me page to support the victims, already raising over $2.8 million from about 40,000

let's get to kevin tibbles reporting from sunrise hospital medical center. it is late out there, but what is the scene out there right now, kevin? >> reporter: it's late and very quiet. i think the activity is taking place on the inside of the hospital, that is where several people remain in critical condition. that is where the hospital staff is working tirelessly in order to save these people's lives. obviously 24 hours ago, the scene here would have been completely different. as 500 injured people, just imagine that number, 500-blues injured people being taken to various trauma centers in and around las vegas, seeking help. these hospitals were absolutely overwhelmed. it was only because of the heroic acts of the staff, the first responders, the doctors, the nurses, that perhaps the death toll has not been any higher. and of course, now, in the

are coming and leaving water, leaving food stuffs. everyone is wanting to thank the first responders and doctors and nurses. and obviously as this thing unfolds, these are the very people who probably have to have counseling, along with those who were witness to that tragedy that took place outside mandalay bay last night. >> you make a great point there. kevin, thank you. now, let's go to nbc news's ron allen reporting outside the mandalay bay hotel. it's only been 24 hours since the shooting. what is the scene on the ground there right now? >> reporter: well, phillip, the authorities are trying to figure out what motivated this individual. and that's the big question. that's what people -- when you walk around the streets here are asking, why would someone do this. there seems to be no answer. this was an individual who was not on the police radar. earlier at a briefing the police

him, not even a parking ticket. although there was a background check on him before he purchased one of the weapons. but this is a big mystery. so far authorities are telling us there was no note left behind, no manifesto, nothing in social media suggesting why he turned all these weapons on this innocent crowd of 22,000 people. he had been at the hotel several days, apparently plotting this and getting almost two dozen high-powered weapons up into a hotel room undetected. it's just a big mystery. we've heard from his brother, who says that he's at a loss as to why he would do this. so piece by piece, the authorities are trying to figure out his steps in the days leading up to this attack. there's also his girlfriend who he apparently lived with in mesquite, nevada, some 90 miles from here. the authorities said that she has not been totally cleared because apparently she was living in this home with him where all these weapons

so a lot of unanswered questions. of course, there's the process of identifying the victims. there are presumably relatives arriving in town who know that their loved ones were here at the concert, trying to figure out whether they're alive, or whether they were lost in this carnage. so a lot of unanswered questions, mostly why. why would someone do this. and what motivated this individual to carry out this attack. >> the main question on everyone's mind. ron, thank you. as the las vegas tries to come to grips with the sag erg incident, investigators are digging into the gunman's past trying to figure out why would he do this. police searched his home about 90 minutes from the scene of the shooting in mesquite, nevada. that's where we find katy beck with the details. >> reporter: a client retirement community, 80 miles from las vegas. now the former home of a mass murderer. >> turned on

wife and i both -- we were in tears. just shock. >> reporter: neighbors horrified that stephen paddock lived among them, among desert mountains and a golf course. thousands of miles east from there, paddock's brother in orlando, suffering the same disbelief. a man he thought he knew. >> it doesn't make any sense that he killed those people. it makes no sense that he did that. >> reporter: in 2015, paddock moved here, bought a two-story single-family home. his brother says so he could relax in retirement. >> he was a multimillionaire. he had multiple million dollars. okay? i don't know. we didn't talk. but we had business dealings previously. we owned property together. >> reporter: police searched his home monday for his motive to kill. >> this is a crazed lunatic full of hate. >> reporter: removing 18

ammunition, and explosives, searching for answers at the house he shared with his girlfriend. >> it's just nothing. he was just a guy. >> what you need for us is the gunman and the shooter and the person with him. >> reporter: paddock has no criminal record. enjoyed gambling. was a licensed private pilot and a real estate owner. he kept in touch with family and is said to have recently provided a new walker for his elderly mother. mad dock's profile complex and incomplete. >> you feel sad. and you feel surprised and shocked. so many emotions. kind of nervous. the whole thing was disturbing. >> reporter: leaving a mourning community and country to wonder how he could have done this. >> that was katy beck reporting. we want to switch gears for a moment and get a check on our weather with bill karins.

flooding. there is a flash flood watch in effect. some of the storms are trying to move to omaha this morning for your morning commute. snow in western montana and northern montana, in billings, especially to the north of you. the front moves through wisconsin, hit-and-miss rain. tomorrow we'll watch hit-and-miss showers. there is some wet weather to be had out there as temperatures will cool off in the northern plains. but not today. chicago, 83, st. louis 81. still beautiful weather. the rainy weather also down with us, hit-and-miss in texas, umbrella weather for you. you can see the cool stuff is definitely in montana with the 44 degrees. our friends in florida had it a little rough lately. dealing with the rip current threats on the beaches. miami is going to have a rainy forecast, not just today, but even into tomorrow. south florida is the exception. everyone else on

for fall. south florida, still in your wet tropical weather type season. there's a closer look at your day ahead. you can see where the gorgeous weather, atlanta doesn't get any better than this. top ten days of the year, 79, low humidity. same for you in charlotte. in the midwest, that's where we're tracking the storms this morning around minneapolis, this afternoon into wisconsin. that's a look at your tuesday forecast. >> bill, thank you. this morning, the music world is in shock, after one of its legends, the iconic tom petty, passed away. the rocker died after being returned to a local hospital following cardiac arrest. while he may no longer be among us mere mortals, his music lives on in more ways than we possibly can count. tom petty dead at 66.

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pampers easy ups, an easy way to underwear pampers this morning we're learning new details about the arsenal the gunman used to carry out his rampage. law enforcement sources tell nbc news stephen paddock may have been using semiautomatic weapons that were converted to fully automatic firing mode. now, semiautomatic weapons are legal in most states, but the sale of automatic weapons have been illegal for three decades. so how did the shooter get his hands on the military grade machine guns? here's nbc news' tom costello. >> reporter: veteran cops could tell from the sound of the gunfire that fully automatic weapons were likely involved. among the armory of guns, ammunition, tri pods and scopes recovered from the hotel room were .223

caliber rifles, possibly illegally converted into machine guns. able to strike a target from long distances. >> it goes down the barrel with a high velocity. it will go through a policeman's vest, through him, out the back of his vest and into the next person. >> reporter: while federal law outlawed the sale, semiautomatic rifles are legal in most but not all states. some gun enthusiasts and criminals use $50 kits online to convert them into automatic guns. >> a fully automatic capability by just replacing the stock. >> reporter: police say the number of converted fully automatic guns has risen sharply. firing off hundreds of rounds per minute. >> my view on these types of weapons is they have no place in our society. they are weapons of war. >> reporter: in nevada, there is no limit on semiautomatic weapons and ammunition you can buy, and

require much skill. >> he's shooting just emptying the whole magazine into the crowd. so it's just mass murder on a vulgar scale. >> reporter: at least two nevada gun dealerships said he purchased weapons there. but no word on how he got his hands on so many weapons of war. just ahead, the gun debate rages on. just hours after the las vegas attack. the white house said it's a time for prayer. others say the time to change gun laws is now. you're watching a special edition of "early today." i was always "the girl with psoriasis." people don't stare anymore. i never joined in. that wasn't fair to any of us. i was covered. i tried lots of things over the years. but i didn't give up. i kept on fighting. i found something that worked. that still works. now? see me. see me. i found clear skin that lasts. see if cosentyx could make a difference for you-

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president trump held a moment of silence at the white house, alongside the first lady and vice president and white house staff, referring to the las vegas shooter as, quote, pure evil during remarks. before annoyancing his plan to visit las vegas tomorrow. he'll head to puerto rico today to survey the federal response there after hurricane maria devastated that area nearly two weeks ago. as the shock of yet another mass shooting reverberates across the country, in washington, the debate over gun control is raging once again, some saying the immediate aftermath of the tragedy is no time for this debate, while others say it's precisely the appropriate time. hallie jackson has those details. >> reporter: for president trump, somber silence after a

in moments of tragedy and horror, america comes together as one. >> reporter: the president responding to the attack with remarks that called for unity, but not gun control. making no mention of gun rights at all, as the combative debate resurfaces. >> it would be premature for us to discuss policy when we don't fully know all the facts or what took place last night. >> reporter: gun control advocates see it differently. >> if we don't act now, when will we. >> reporter: at the capitol, former congresswoman gabrielle giffords shot in the head in arizona in 2011 delivered a message to her former colleagues. >> the nation's counting on you. >> reporter: by now it's a familiar pattern, that not even the murders of 20 children at sandy hook could break. a devastating shooting, a national gun dialogue, then gridlock. with deep

background checks and mental health regulations. >> you can't sit here and call for ban this, ban that. when you don't even know what was used. >> reporter: most republicans oppose stricter rules on gun sales, rallying around the second amendment. with the gop in control of congress, and the white house, it looks like little will change. >> our thanks to hallie jackson for that report. just ahead, we're going to hear from the victims themselves on the terrible events that they endured and the heroics displayed during this unimaginable terror. you're watching a special edition of "early today" on this tuesday morning. we'll be right back.

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ready to go! nivea in-shower body lotion. also available with cocoa butter. night of music and fun turned into a tragedy sunday night in las vegas, as social media videos captured the chaos on the ground. here's a look at some of the images and sounds the survivors will never forget. ♪ [ gunfire ] >> it's coming from upstairs from the mandalay bay! halfway up! [ gunfire ] e

multiple casualties! >> clip after clip after clip. >> that was probably 200, 300 rounds. >> everyone said drop, and everyone dropped. and everyone got up and started stampeding and jumping over fences, getting out. >> multiple shots. >> run, now! >> we determined there was a shooter on the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay. he is dead. >> one man was sitting next to me who had a bullet hole through his arm. >> there was dead bodies on the street. there was dead bodies in the place. there was dead bodies everywhere. >> just ahead, we'll hear about the terror and heroics displayed during sunday night's awful shooting. anual, and my hygienist says it does. but... ...they're not all the same. turns out, they're really...

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good morning everyone. i'm chris lawrence. when we see you in 09 seconds, we'll have the latest in the investigation on the massacre in las vegas. as we learn more about the investigation, the gunman and the victims, krug two from our area. we're off to another chilly start. certainly are, chris. temperatures this morning 40s and 50s. 30sno ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ with the company trusted for more than 75 years, you have the compassion and strength of a name,

giving you the courage to enjoy the ride. carefirst blue cross blue shield. live fearless. we begin this morning with a massacre in las vegas. normally a bustling city no matter what time of day, but this morning the people there are breathing along with the rest of the

bay casino where a gunman carried out the worst shooting in american history. i'm chris lawrence. the massacre left the country stunned but not necessarily surprised. we're, again, hearing the calls from congress to enact some kind of gun control legislation in and a community coming together to support one another. >> he thought he could destroy who and what we are. that will never happen. >> here's what we've learned since you went to sleep. the fbi is combing through the hotel room where stephen paddock caro carried out this act. he had 19 guns back at home. he passed all required background checks for guns. 59 people have been killed, 527 hurt and a lot of the wounded are in critical condition. we're going to have much more on