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Las Vegas Massacre; Russian-Linked Facebook Ads Targeted Michigan and Wisconsin. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired October 4, 2017 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:20] DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN TONIGHT.

I'm Don Lemon. We're live here in Las Vegas.

Our breaking news: stunning new developments in the worst massacre in modern American history.

We have new photos from inside the shooter Stephen Paddock's hotel room at the Mandalay Bay right behind me. The photos obtained by the "Daily Mail" show a luxurious room scattered with guns and ammunition. And in one what police confirm is the lifeless body of the shooter.

We're also learning that the shooter's girlfriend, Marilou Danley is on her way back to the United States from the Philippines tonight.

Police also releasing dramatic body-camera footage showing officers responding as the bullets rained down on the Vegas strip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get behind.

Hey, hey. Go back, go back. Get back.

Get back, get back. Get back.

CNN's Kyung Lah is here with more. She joins us with the investigation. Let's play some more of the body cam footage and then we'll talk. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's gunshots right here.

Let's go that way. Go that way. Go that way.

They're shooting right at us, guys. Everybody stay down, stay down.

Where's it at?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mandalay Bay -- it's coming out of the window.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: North of the Mandalay Bay. It's coming out of the window.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So we know the first 911 call started at 10:08 p.m. The shooting went on for about nine to 12 minutes according to investigators. You see in that video, Kyung, the unthinkable becoming real to those first responders and concert goers.

KYUNGLAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, we should try to put this into perspective, Don, as we listen and look at these images. You may notice that these first responders, they're wearing these vests. They're wearing a vent vest.

The reason why they're wearing them is because many of them were working that event. It was a music festival outside in an open airspace. And so as soon as that gunfire started, they started running towards them.

And I don't know if it's -- that that is body camera footage and what we've seen before are from concert goers and they're trying to escape. These are first responders running towards the gunfire. They're actually running towards it.

So when you hear the sheriff describe why it ended so quickly, that the shots appeared to end at about 10:19 -- just nine minutes after the first 911 calls came in -- it's because those first responders started running and immediately engaging the gunman inside the hotel that is just right over my shoulder.

LEMON: And today the Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, Kyung, said that Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley is a person of interest. What more have investigators learned on the angle of an investigation. By the way, we understand she's on a plane back to the U.S.

LAH: We understand now that the plane has actually just landed -- Don. We're getting these developments just within the last few minutes or so.

We're hearing from the Filipino bureau of investigation speaking to our Nic Robertson who is in Manila. And what we are learning is that she did depart the country -- that she was on a plane. It has already land in Los Angeles.

What we do not know is if she is getting on another flight here to Las Vegas, or if she's going to be working with authorities in Los Angeles. So beyond her landing in Los Angeles, we don't know very much about her movements.

What we do also know, Don, is that she did travel the region. She had been in Tokyo, the Bureau of Immigration telling us, telling CNN that she had left -- arrived into the Philippines on September 15th from Tokyo. And then she had traveled around the region to Hong Kong, returning to the Philippines and had been there up until now when she departed today -- Don.

LEMON: All right, Kyung Lah with the latest on the investigation. Thank you very much for that.

[00:04:55] I want to turn now to an amazing survival story.

Anthony Kappenman was wounded in the massacre but didn't even realize at first that he had been shot. And he joins me now.

How are you doing?

ANTHONY KAPPENMAN, SHOOTING SURVIVOR: Good.

LEMON: Yes. Good to see you. And we're glad that you're ok.

KAPPENMAN: Thank you.

LEMON: You were released from the hospital today --

KAPPENMAN: Actually last night.

LEMON: Last night.

KAPPENMAN: Last night.

LEMON: What happened?

KAPPENMAN: So -- I mean it was kind of just like any other event. We were all there having fun. Jason Aldean was on. I kind of got fortunate. I was there with some other friends and they had all pretty much left.

My ride had left. He decided he was going to go home a little early because he had work. I had a few other friends that I was there with and they had left. So I was actually there with just one friend.

I kind of had the same reaction as everyone else. We heard the initial fire, and at first I thought it was fireworks just kind of like everyone else. And I looked up and there were no fireworks in the sky.

I kind of recognized the cyclical sound afterwards and I recognized it was gunfire. So I got ready to start moving. I grabbed my friend and we started heading out.

We got maybe 10 or 15, 20 feet right before everyone else kind of realized it was gunfire as well. And they started to stampede.

So as we were going we were trying to escape around the bar. We were central, kind of central to the concert in the middle of the crowd where the bar was. We started to go around. As we started to go around the bar, other people started trying to dive underneath the bar to get under tables and things like that.

My friend followed suit. Right as she did that. There were some rounds to the left of me that went off, just kind of ricocheting off the ground.

LEMON: You mean you could see them and hear them? KAPPENMAN: I could hear them. I didn't see all of them. I saw about

two so they kind of came in a sweeping motion from behind me to my left.

But I saw the last two so I instantly just kind of jumped on top of her. That was kind of my first reaction was to just cover her up. And as I did that, I landed on her and I turned my head so I didn't hit her head. And a round went off and I got some shrapnel in my face.

LEMON: I want to show you this because this is a picture of -- I think this is the bullet that hit you. And when did you realize you were shot? That's the bullet that hit you?

KAPPENMAN: Yes. So that's the round that actually went into my face. I realized that I got hit with something immediately. It popped my head back. So I kind of touched and saw blood. And my first reaction, I just grabbed my friend and I said we got to go.

So I picked her up and I got her up and as we were turning to run, I got shot again in the leg. So I took a round just above the knee?

LEMON: And you're wearing -- to pick and pull back -- but you're wearing the brace and then you have the walker.

KAPPENMAN: Right.

LEMON: How bad is the injury? What did doctors say?

KAPPENMAN: So half the round broke off and then actually embedded in my femur. And then other half of the round kind of split some shrapnel around it. It's just above the knee. The hospital said that because there was no infection present, they're going to release me.

But I am going to get a second opinion. I have some family friends that are doctors. And they said if it's in the bone it should be removed. So I may still have to have surgery.

LEMON: How far did you run?

KAPPENMAN: Oh, man -- a good amount. We were in the middle of the bar, and the exit round that we took, we ran back and around to the right towards the back.

And fortunately all the responders throughout this whole thing, Las Vegas Metro was just so on point. They were calm, collected. They funneled people. They kept the people calm as much as they could.

And clearly the people that weren't keeping calm, they were helping. But they'd opened up the back towards the private airport area. That's where we ran. I mean --

LEMON: Does this feel real to you?

KAPPENMAN: Yes and no. It's still kind of settling in here and there. As I hear other people's stories and things like that, it's starting to hit a little bit more to home.

I just -- I'm kind of counting my blessings. All of my friends got out safe. And I know a lot of other people didn't. So I'm just trying to keep a good head on my shoulders and be happy about what I have.

LEMON: Thank you.

KAPPENMAN: Thank you.

LEMON: Absolutely glad that you're ok. Thank you.

For now --

KAPPENMAN: Yes.

LEMON: Yes. Let's hope that heals properly.

KAPPENMAN: Thank you.

LEMON: When you get -- you've got to get a second opinion, right?

KAPPENMAN: Yes, I get a second opinion tomorrow at 12:45.

LEMON: Thank you -- sir.

KAPPENMAN: All right. Thank you.

LEMON: Best of luck.

When we come back, more stories from the chaos of Sunday's mass shooting -- we're going to talk to a family of a woman who was wounded and is in the hospital tonight.

[00:09:45] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Police say Stephen Paddock fired on the crowd at the Route 91 festival for 9 to 11 minutes killing 58 people and wounding 527.

One of those wounded is Rosemarie Melanson. She is in critical condition tonight. I spoke with her husband, Stephen and their daughters Stephanie and Paige. The girls bought their mom tickets to the concert as a Mother's Day gift.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE MELANSON, DAUGHTER OF SHOOTING VICTIM: We were all just having a ball. Starting Jason Aldean, I don't have the video footage anymore, but I have video footage of us just having fun, singing along videoing him. And I captioned it as the best day ever.

LEMON: So you were dancing around, having a good time and then what happened? Describe what happened.

S. MELANSON: Well, the gunshots started and no one thought too much of it. And we're still singing and dancing until all of a sudden you hear Jason stop playing and you see him and his dancers run and everyone being pushed and shoved down, being covered, everyone screaming, people are running.

I'm the oldest of four and I've always had a motherly instinct. So first instinct for me was -- where's my family, where's my friends, what's going on? I hear my sister screaming I got hit, I got hit.

[00:15:00] And I didn't know what she was talking about, and somehow a light was shining on her arm and she's covered in blood, her whole hand, her whole arm. And I looked down and I see my mom laying face down in the grass.

And by that point people -- enough people had run away from where we were at and we were able to flip her over. And immediately you saw the gunshot wound in her chest.

LEMON: Do you remember what happened? Do you know how you got separated? Do you remember being hit?

PAIGE MELANSON, DAUGHTER OF SHOOTING VICTIM: I don't remember -- I don't remember being hit. I remember when the light shone, was shone, that's how I knew I just was covered in blood. I mean I got absolutely lucky it just grazed my elbow. It's about an inch deep.

LEMON: But you didn't know that then.

P. MELANSON: I didn't know that then. I saw the skin kind of just flopping there. But I saw my mother there, and that was my main concern. I didn't even feel my arm. I didn't feel pain until hours and hours and hours later.

And I remember I was on the phone with my boyfriend. She was on the phone with hers. And between her and my dad, and I remember just hearing through the phone like stay calm, stay calm, stay calm. And a retired paramedic or firefighter was saying the same thing -- stay calm.

He was like you guys have to get out of here. So the next thing I knew was I knew that I did not want to leave my mom. But I knew that that was what I had to do in that particular moment.

LEMON: And you went to the hospital and --

P. MELANSON: Yes, I was taken --

LEMON: That's how you got the --

P. MELANSON: So, yes, I was taken to a hospital by an ambulance and I was with another victim who was shot in the back. And once we got to the hospital, they brought us in. And I was sitting -- I mean there was just chairs lined up everywhere. I mean it was a real life "Gray's Anatomy" episode like there was blood everywhere.

LEMON: What kind of -- what kind of injuries did you see in the hospital? P. MELANSON: I saw a woman -- I mean this image will never leave my

mind -- she had a bullet in her forehead and she was laying there. And there was blood all over her hair. And I was literally right on the corner where they were wheeling people by.

I mean there were people on the floors laying with (inaudible) underneath them, like leg wounds and feet and arms -- I mean just about anywhere you could think.

LEMON: Did you feel helpless?

STEPHEN MELANSON, HUSBAND OF SHOOTING VICTIM: Yes.

LEMON: Because you were at home, right?

S. MELANDSON: I'm at home. I'm waiting -- in fact I was getting ready to go pick them up. I was their designated driver to drive them down and then to go pick them up. So I was up getting ready.

My wife texted me about an hour before saying how much fun that she was having. And I was thrilled that she was having so much fun with my daughters.

And then I was texting Stephanie. She was saying how much fun that they were having. And then two minutes later I get a text from her saying "OMG, there's a shooting in front of us."

And then I got another text, she says "Mom is hit." So I immediately called her, and she was crying, yelling saying, "Daddy, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Daddy, I'm sorry." And then I said "I'm leaving", and she said "Leave now, leave now." By the time she said that, I was already on my way.

LEMON: What was going through your head?

STEPHEN MELANSON: The unknown. Not knowing if they were around. Not knowing if they were alive. Not knowing if my wife was alive.

She was telling me that they were being forced to leave on the phone. That if they didn't leave they could die, too. So I hung up, I called Paige. Paige was crying. She said, "Daddy, I got hit. I got shot".

So you can have an idea what I was thinking. I'm like two of my family members were shot. Up until that point we still didn't know where my wife was. They couldn't locate her. So Metro advised us go down to Metropolitan headquarters with all the other family members and they would have a briefing.

So that's where a lot of families went to. So every so often they would come out and give a name update of who's been in the hospital. They did that three times and my wife's name was never on that list.

So now I'm beginning to panic thinking maybe the worst but also knowing that there were so many casualties that there was still hope. And I kept that hope in me, and I kept my faith. [00:19:54] And after over 11 hours we finally got information that she possibly was at Sunrise Hospital where Paige was treated. And once we get to Sunrise Hospital, a caseworker met us to confirm that she was there and took us up immediately to the ICU unit.

LEMON: What did you feel?

STEPHEN MELANSON: Relief, happiness, grateful but at the same time grieving. My heart was broken for those family members that lost their loved ones that were killed. And I prayed for them.

LEMON: Do you think you'll ever be the same?

S. MELANSON: No. No. Experiencing that and living that -- living through it, fighting through that, you hear the stories on the news all the time. And my heart breaks when I hear things about this.

You never think it's going to happen to you. And you hear that saying all the time you don't think it's going to happen to you. But the moment it does --

P. MELANSON: Indescribable.

(CROSSTALK)

S. MELANSON: My worst feeling was having to leave my mom. And I was the last of our group to be with her. And I thought for sure that I would not ever see her again. So those 11 hours that we waited, I mean --

STEPHEN MELANSON: They're probably the hardest time of our lives, the not knowing.

S. MELANSON: Yes.

P. MELANSON: And not being able to do anything.

S. MELANSON: Yes.

STEPHEN MELANSON: Yes.

S. MELANSON: I was so mad that I couldn't do anything to help my mom. I couldn't do anything to help my sister.

LEMON: There's nothing you can do. And if someone's telling you to run, what do you do?

S. MELANSON: I know.

P. MELANSON: What do you do?

LEMON: What do you do?

S. MELANSON: I told him -- you know, I just told him you don't understand the relationship with my mom and I. I have to be here. I can't leave her. I can't go without her. I can't. I can't. And I was willing to stay and take a bullet to be with my mom. And I know if it wasn't for that man my mom wouldn't still be here. And I know if my friend wasn't with me, I would have stayed. And I know if I would have stayed, I would have died.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: These are the family members told me after they didn't hear from her for a while that they had thought she had died. And then they got the news that she hadn't, and it's an incredible story. The Melanson family -- and we wish them well.

And the man that they talked about who helped them is one of many true American heroes who risked their own lives that night.

We're getting more information on the 58 people killed here in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Native Quinton Robbins coached his little brother's football team. His aunt says everyone who met him loved him.

Las Vegas resident Neysa Tonks leaves behind three sons. Folks remember her generously -- her generosity. Spending holidays stuffing backpacks for those less fortunate.

And 34-year-old Carrie Barnette was a Disney employee for ten years. Her family described her as a truly inspiring person.

Brother, son and uncle Eric Silva had just turned 21 a couple of months ago.

And Candice Bowers was a single mother of three including a two-year- old she had just adopted.

[00:23:40] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We've got much more ahead here in Las Vegas on the worst mass shooting in recent American history.

We also have some breaking news tonight though on the Russia investigation. CNN has learned that some Russian-linked Facebook ads specifically targeted Michigan and Wisconsin, two states crucial to Donald Trump's victory last November. That's according to four sources with direct knowledge of the situation.

CNN's Dylan Byers is here with that reporting. So Dylan -- you have this new reporting tonight on these Russian-linked Facebook ads, what can you tell us?

DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR REPORTER FOR MEDIA AND POLITICS: That's right -- Don. So Facebook has reported 3,000 -- more than 3,000 ads that it found that were bought by Russians seeking to meddle in the election. What we learned tonight is that a portion of those ads were targeted towards the states of Michigan and Wisconsin. Those were two states that Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton beaten by, by a margin of less than 1 percent. Earlier this week, we learned that those 3,000 ads reached about 10 million people. When you start doing the math and breaking it down, the amount of people that could have been reached by these ads in Michigan and Wisconsin -- it's a small number. But when you think about how crucial those states were to the election, it begins to raise questions about the efficacy of those ads in terms of influencing the 2016 presidential election.

LEMON: So were the Russians helped in choosing where to target which states?

BYERS: This is the really big question that's being asked both on the Hill, by the Senate and House Intelligence Committee and by the special counsel as it continues its investigation into Russian meddling in the election.

If there was some level of collusion, if there was some level of cooperation between the Trump campaign and the Russians, which is a question both parties are asking, you have a bombshell there -- Don. And I think that is -- I think that's what we're waiting for. And we're waiting for more details from both sides.

All of the folks we've talked to on the Hill, they say we need more time. What we know is just the tip of the iceberg. We're still working on that.

So hopefully more details in the weeks and months ahead.

LEMON: So talk to me about these ads. What kinds of ads were used to go after these voters?

[00:29:48] BYERS: Well, specifically -- look, the Russian bought ads across the board. What they did was they tried to target, to sort of push points in American society where they could drive a wedge between Americans effectively -- amplify political discord whether that was on the question of race, of immigration, of refugees, LGBTQ rights, gun rights.

One thing we've learned about the ads that were targeted towards Wisconsin and Michigan, there were certainly some ads that had to do with Islam and that basically tried to stoke anti-Muslim sentiment among those voters in those two states.

Anything that could drive a wedge between Americans, it appears the Russians were on top of that.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Dylan Byers in Los Angeles with the reporting tonight, thank you, Dylan.

And there are other new developments tonight on the Russia investigation and Facebook. Here's CNN's chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto -- Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Don, you might say the key phrase here is force multiplier, as the military might say: 3,000 ads, $100,000 over two years, not a big bill for the Kremlin.

And yet we now know that 10 million people saw these ads, about half of them before the election. And remember these were very tight races, particularly in those swing states.

The question is, how influential were these ads in the actual election results?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Tonight investigators are reviewing thousands of Russian-bought Facebook ads as part of the congressional probe into Moscow's wide-ranging social media campaign to influence the U.S. presidential election.

An estimated 10 million people in the U.S., according to Facebook, saw at least one of the 3,000 political ads bought by accounts linked to the Kremlin. Cost for that access: just $100,000 over the course of two years.

And Facebook's data suggests that money bought Russia influence well beyond the election and may continue to this day, with more than half of the ads viewed after voters cast their ballots in November.

How did Russia target its audience of millions?

Moscow set up websites in Facebook pages that focused on controversial issues, such as race relations and illegal immigration and also used a Facebook tool to send specific ads to voters who had visited those sites. This according to "The Washington Post" report, citing sources familiar with the investigation.

Congress is now under pressure to release those ads to the public.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Will you release them publicly?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. We don't release documents provided to the investigative committee.

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Tonight, new details are emerging from another set of documents being reviewed by investigators. E-mails from former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort appear to show Manafort used his position to garner favor with Russian billionaire and Putin ally, Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska, who Manafort was deeply indebted to.

This according to excerpts released by "The Atlantic." Just weeks after being hired by Trump, Manafort writes on April 11, 2016, quote, "I assume you've shown our friends my media coverage, right?"

Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukraine-based former business associate of Manafort, responds, quote, "Absolutely, every article."

Manafort then asks, "How do we use this to get whole? Has OBD operation seen?"

The initials OBD referring to Deripaska, according to "The Atlantic," citing a source close to Manafort.

Still, there is no evidence, according to "The Atlantic," that Deripaska met with Manafort last year or was aware of Manafort's attempts to reach him.

These e-mails are under scrutiny as investigators continue to look into whether the Trump campaign had ties to Russia. But congressional investigators are complaining they are not getting everything they need.

Just last week the Senate Judiciary Committee sent this letter to the CIA, asking for, quote, "access to the same materials that have been made available to the Senate Intelligence Committee."

Senator Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, telling reporters, "We were turned down."

SCIUTTO: There's an ongoing debate now between Democrats and Republicans about whether to make these Facebook ads public. Democrats want to; the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said today that he would not make those public, though he did leave the door open to Facebook doing so.

There will be an update tomorrow from the Senate Intelligence Committee, the chairman saying he will let the public know now what doors they have closed in this investigation and what doors are still open -- Don.

LEMON: Jim Sciutto, thank you very much.

When we come back, much more on our exclusive Russian-linked Facebook ads that targeted Michigan and Wisconsin, two states key to Donald Trump's election victory.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:35:00]

LEMON: Our exclusive tonight: sources telling CNN Russian linked Facebook ads target Michigan and Wisconsin, key states in Donald Trump's election victory. I want to bring in now CNN political commentator, David Swerdlick; national security analysts, Juliette Kayyem and Steve Hall, and Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor.

Good evening, everyone.

David, I want to start with you. CNN's exclusive reporting about these Russian-linked Facebook ads targeting specifically Michigan and Wisconsin.

What's your reaction?

DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So, Don, this tells me a couple of things. One, the level of sophistication, it goes along with CNN's reporting from Friday that this Russian group had targeted Facebook users in Maryland, in Baltimore and also in Ferguson, Missouri; now these battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan.

So there's a sophistication level where Facebook users are being targeted both geographically -- or, excuse me -- were being targeted geographically and also along these issue lines, right, in some places talking about contentious issues related to police brutality, in some places talking about -- sending out, as CNN reported tonight, anti- Muslim type of ads or type of stories that would potentially rile up people to feel like there was more discord, more dissension in the country than perhaps there actually was.

The other thing it tells me is that it really tells me, Don --

[00:40:00]

SWERDLICK: -- puts a different spin on, when you think about going back to the December transition, when President Trump was saying that there was basically nothing to see here, that Russian interference in our election was speculation, he was doubting some of the intelligence by our intelligence agencies, separate and apart from whether or not there was any collusion.

We're not there yet with this. But the idea that this was being dismissed and now more and more evidence is sort of piling up based on this reporting.

LEMON: Juliette Kayyem, to you now. These were some of the most highly contested states in the election.

Do you think the Russians knew that they would be such important states?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. I think that they knew.

And the question now is how did they know?

Did they have a sophisticated tracking system that was working or buying ads off of Facebook to target these communities?

And therefore it's just a coincidence that that's the same strategy of the Trump administration. in other words, the coincidences just keep piling on.

So the ultimate question is, were the Russians guided by any aspects of the Trump campaign or Trump organization?

It's still unknown now. But this is that they were similar is relevant to investigators.

And I just want to add one thing to what David said. This idea that Russians were sort of fomenting distrust along racial, ethnic religious lines, economic lines, what that means it's that -- or how that translates to an election strategy is it's that sense of unease or foment that led to Trump's victories in those states because people went out to vote.

So the idea is not simply that they're upsetting people, it's the idea that that tension then led to greater voter turnout in two states where he did much better than anyone anticipated.

So it was an election strategy, it was not just a PR strategy. And whether it was a coincidence that aligned with the Trump strategy or was actually guided by the Trump campaign is exactly the question, you know, we're all waiting to determine what the answer is.

LEMON: To Steve Hall now, Steve, do you think these ads and this strategy employed by Russia was meant only to influence the election?

Or could there be something more here?

STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Don, I'm not sure it's an either/or situation. I think it's actually a little bit of both. I think that there's little doubt that Vladimir Putin, when he saw candidate Trump's positions vis-a-vis Russia, said, well, this is a much better candidate than Hillary Clinton.

So in my mind, there's little doubt that one of the goals of the Russians' operation here was to increase the likelihood that Donald Trump would indeed be elected.

But as Juliette was sort of alluding to, that there are other reasons as well. It's not just that, let's get Donald Trump elected. There is a much larger geopolitical goal that Vladimir Putin has. And that's dividing the West, not just the United States, but the recent German elections, French elections and all of those things.

He's trying to drive wedges. And the best way to drive wedges is to find those delicate issues that really get society going and sets them on edge.

All of this is, of course, outrageous, because it's a foreign government, a hostile government, insinuating itself into our process. And basically one of two things had to have happened.

The first is, they simply did this propaganda influence operation and we bought it. It's kind of our fault. We need to look at how we absorb our news, where we get it from in our electoral system.

The second, a much darker option, is that they had inside help.

Did they have somebody from the Trump campaign, who was saying, yes, this is where we need that help, can you help us out?

To be clear, we don't know yet. That's what guys like Bob Mueller are trying to find out.

But those are the basic options here.

LEMON: Yes, speaking of Bob Mueller, Renato Mariotti, how will these ads play into Robert Mueller's investigation?

RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, as I've discussed multiple times on Twitter and elsewhere, Bob Mueller has acquired a search warrant to get information off of Facebook, which tells us that he presented enough evidence to convince a federal judge that a crime was committed; in this case, a foreign, illegal expenditure in connection with the election.

And he also convinced that judge that the evidence of that crime was on Facebook. And I think we're starting to see it here in the reporting from CNN, is giving us a glimpse into the work that the Russian government put to try to expend resources to influence this election.

And really what we're seeing here is -- and I agree with some of the other folks, who've said that it's not just an election strategy. This is an adversary of ours, a hostile government, that's seeking to divide us.

And they're playing, pushing our buttons in an expert way to divide us up on racial lines and religious lines --

[00:45:00]

MARIOTTI: -- and every way possible, to try to pit us against each other because we're weaker when we are fighting against each other. And obviously it had an electoral component as well.

But regardless of whether that electoral component was effective or not, on whether it changed the election, it does not matter legally. What matters legally is foreigners are not supposed to be influencing our elections, period. That's a crime. That's against the law and it's something we should be united against.

LEMON: Juliette Kayyem, I want to --

David, rather -- let's get to David on this one.

David, Politico is reporting today that Jared and Ivanka used a third personal e-mail account to conduct government business.

After all that happened in 2016, I mean, shouldn't they know better and know to discontinue their use of private e-mail addresses?

SWERDLICK: They should certainly know better, Don. Look, I did read that report earlier today. And I don't believe that the report is saying that there was any classified information in those e-mails.

And so that would be a distinction between those e-mails and some of e-mails that were apparently found on Hillary Clinton's server that we talked so much during the 2016 campaign.

But having said that, even if there was no classified information in those e-mails, government business by people who are employed at the White House, which includes Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, should be conducted on their government e-mail accounts. And if there was one lesson to be learned politically, no matter what

party you're in during the 2016 election, is that there was simply no room, both from the perspective of the American electorate and in terms of how you might compromise sensitive government information for using private e-mail, for conducting business at the White House level.

LEMON: All right, we're out of time. Thank you all. I appreciate it.

We're going to continue to honor the lives of those killed in Las Vegas.

Adrian Murfitt had gone to Vegas to surprise a friend for a guys' weekend. Adrian ended up dying in the lap of one of those friends.

Jack Beaton attended the concert with his wife. His son said Jack died after stepping in front of his wife to shield her.

Calla Medig was a waitress from Canada. This is the third year she'd attended the festival. Her boss says she leaves a big hole in the heart of everyone who knew her.

And 34-year-old single mother Jessica Klymchuk leaves behind four children. She had served as an educational assistant, a librarian and a bus driver.

Mother and grandmother Dana Gardner is remembered for her can-do attitude and vibrant energy.

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LEMON: We have more breaking news on the investigation of the Las Vegas massacre. Shooter Stephen Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, arrived in Los Angeles tonight after flying back from the Philippines. I want to get now to CNN's Scott McLean; he has more.

Scott, what can you tell us?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don, so Marilou Danley arrived on a flight from Manila at LAX, the airport in Los Angeles just after 7 o'clock. This is according to immigration officials in the Philippines and also FBI sources, speaking to our Evan Perez.

What's not clear at this point is whether or not she will travel on to Las Vegas by flight or by car. Authorities are telling Evan Perez that it's not likely that she will immediately come to Las Vegas; if she does come here tonight, she will likely come down this escalator outside of security to the baggage claim here, area here at McCarran Airport.

Now it's important to point out that Danley is not a suspect in this case; she is a person of interest. But of course she could hold a lot of answers as to what was going through Stephen Paddock's mind before he carried out this awful crime.

LEMON: Scott, we have been talking a lot to security experts about how to improve security and what sort of security they have in place. And I understand -- I know that you spent the day with a security expert, walking the Mandalay Bay hotel.

Can you tell us about how Stephen Paddock turned his hotel suite into a deadly arsenal with shocking, what, 23 weapons there?

MCLEAN: Yes, and all of those guns, Don, were purchased legally. There were more than 20 guns inside the room; in fact, hotel staff were actually inside the room prior to the shooting. And they didn't see anything amiss at all, not to mention the fact that there were no red flags raised by hotel staff.

Police say they don't see how this could have been prevented. We asked a security expert today; as you said, his name is Dave Shepherd (ph). He has 20-plus years of experience with the FBI. He was also head of security at another big hotel, The Venetian. We asked him why it's not preventable -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: In a hotel like this, the minute you walk in the front door, getting up to your hotel room, how much of that are you going to be visible on a security camera for?

DAVID SHEPHERD, SECURITY EXPERT: Almost all of it. There are areas -- which there's not -- if we're in a hallway here, we don't always have cameras (INAUDIBLE) property. We have an outside elevators, an elevator lobby (INAUDIBLE) elevators from there.

You look for people under stress, things like that. So you are pretty much covered.

MCLEAN: We know that the suspect brought in a lot of bags.

Would that raise --

[00:55:00]

MCLEAN: -- any red flags with hotel staff or hotel security?

SHEPHERD: The number of bags being brought in doesn't really bring up a lot more issues.

(CROSSTALK)

MCLEAN: Because --

SHEPHERD: We have people coming in from foreign countries who travel a lot and they have a lot of bags; we have conventioneers that bring in tons of bags for their equipment for their shows. And people just bring a lot of bags at times. MCLEAN: So once you're inside the hotel room, it's pretty easy to put the "do not disturb" sign on the door.

Is that going to raise any red flags with hotel staff or security?

SHEPHERD: Having a "do not disturb sign" doesn't raise a whole lot of flags. I mean, you could be in here for all kinds of reason and not want to be disturbed; you flew from Europe, you want to get some sleep. Put a sign on the door.

MCLEAN: It's pretty easy to have your privacy. We know that hotel staff, in the case of this suspect actually, was in the room prior to the shooting. They didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Are they generally trained to look for things like that?

SHEPHERD: A lot of staffs are trained and actually, you know, the Institute of Security Studies created videos for maids, housekeepers, front desk people, valet people, concerning what to look for if there is suspicious activity, things like that.

MCLEAN: And what types of things?

Can you give me an example?

SHEPHERD: Things in open that should not be in -- should not be, you know, it's not out -- the normal clothing type thing that's -- anything looks peculiar.

MCLEAN: Are you surprised that they didn't notice anything amiss in this case?

SHEPHERD: If you have everything in a bag, if you had nothing exposed to start with, if you have everything unpacked -- or -- excuse me -- packed up, you're not going to notice anything like that. They don't go through the bags of anybody now.

MCLEAN: This is a similar vantage point to what the suspect might have had. We're quite a considerable distance away from the venue, we're also a considerable height up.

What's the advantage of being up here?

SHEPHERD: Your field of view and your area you can take and observe is huge. You can see almost everything from up here. You can see where people are moving. You can see where the crowd is. You can see traffic, you can see where -- you have an advantage up here.

MCLEAN: You also have these windows to break through.

How hard would it be to break through these.

SHEPHERD: These windows are here -- they used be windows that used to open. And they crossed the windows because it's a lot safer to have these type windows. There's one single pane. But they're also hard to break. You actually have to have, when people are up here, they're leaning against windows, they're moving furniture against windows, they can't break easily. So it has to take something hard and heavy to break them.

MCLEAN: In your opinion, is there anything that the hotel really could have done to prevent something like this?

SHEPHERD: Not that I've seen so far. I haven't seen anything that would take and spur anything different than what a normal property would do anywhere in the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCLEAN: As for changes in light of this, Shepherd says, look, there have been mall shootings in this country. You don't see massive security apparatuses at malls, commonplace across the country. He says it's unlikely that you will see metal detectors or bag scanners in -- or in hotel lobbies across the country as a result of this shooting -- Don.

LEMON: Scott McLean, Scott, appreciate your reporting.

And before we leave you tonight, we want to honor more of the lives lost here in Las Vegas: 28-year-old Kelsey Brianne Meadows was a substitute teacher at a high school she graduated from. She's survived by parents and her brother.

Bill Wolfe Jr. was a wrestling and a Little League coach from Pennsylvania. He and his wife were at the concert, celebrating 20 years of marriage.

Melissa Ramirez had just graduated college three years ago with a degree in business administration.

And 56-year-old corrections officer Derrick Taylor was known to his friends simply as Bo.