[Isha Sesay, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
[John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] I'm John Vause. Thanks for staying with us. We'll check the headlines now.
[Vause:] Investigators are still trying to piece together why Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd of Las Vegas concert. Police found 50 pounds of explosives and 1600 rounds of ammunition in his parked car. His girlfriend says that she had no idea he was planning a bomb attack.
[Sesay:] President Trump traveled to Las Vegas Wednesday to meet with some of the shooting survivors and first responders.
[Vause:] And back in Washington, he tweeted his appreciation. "On behalf of a grateful nation, thank you to all the first responders, who saved countless lives in Las Vegas on Sunday night." Here's Jim Acosta with more on the president's visit.
[Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] In a city in desperate need of comfort, the president and first lady toured the hospital where survivors of the mass shooting in Las Vegas are clinging to life and searching for answers.
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] And we ask God to ease their suffering and to speed their healing. We pray for the recovery of the injured and those injured officers who so bravely threw themselves into danger when duty called.
[Acosta:] The president praised the medical staff that treated the wounded
[Trump:] The doctors, the nurses, all of the people at the hospital have done a job that's indescribable.
[Acosta:] and offered his own diagnosis of the killer.
[Trump:] I can tell you, it's a very sick man. He was a very demented person.
[Acosta:] One topic the presidents not taking on his visit, gun control.
[Trump:] We're not going to talk about that today. We won't talk about it.
[Acosta:] The White House is steering clear of the issue, sending out these talking points to its surrogates. "Let's gather the facts before we make sweeping policy arguments for curtailing the Second Amendment," the talking points read. "Let's be clear, new laws won't stop a mad man committed to harming innocent people." And the talking points asked, "Did he have radical ties," despite the fact that investigators say they believe the gunman acted alone. The president doesn't always wait for the facts to come in. During the campaign, then-Candidate Trump called for temporary ban on Muslims coming into the
[U.s. -- Unidentified News Correspondent:] Graphic shootout here.
[Acosta:] after mass shootings in San Bernardino, California, and Orlando. Advocates for more gun control say the time to confront the issue is now.
[Sen. John Lewis, , Georgia:] How my more must die? 100? 1,000? 10,000? A million? What is your blood price? How many more must die?
[Unidentified Female:] Now is the time to come together, be responsible. Democrats, Republicans, everyone. We must never stop fighting. Fight, fight, fight.
[Acosta:] The president's trip to Las Vegas was much more controlled than his visit to Puerto Rico where Mr. Trump tossed rolls of paper towels to storm victims and joked the hurricane damage there would be costly.
[Trump:] I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you've thrown our budget a little bit out of whack.
[Acosta:] On this day, the president appeared to strike the right tone, meeting with the first responders who rushed into the line of fire.
[Trump:] But you showed the world, and the world is watching, and you showed what professionalism is all about.
[Vause:] Well, joining us now, Democratic strategist, Matthew Littman, and CNN political commentator and Trump supporter, John Phillips. Good to see you both.
[Sesay:] Welcome.
[Vause:] At a CNN town hall, with House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, one of the questions she received came from Bob Patterson. His wife was shot and killed in Las Vegas on Sunday night. This is the question.
[Bob Patterson, Wife Killed In Las Vegas:] There was Sandy Hook, Florida, San Bernardino. How many more lives have to be taken before something is done? Congressman Congresswoman Pelosi, as a leader on Capitol Hill, what are you going to do to stop this?
[Vause:] So, John, I'm going to put that question to you because, essentially, this is an issue for Republicans. What do you say to the man who lost his wife? What are Republicans prepared to do now?
[John Thomas, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, I wish you would have shown her answer, which was background checks. And background checks would not have worked in this particular case. This guy had no criminal rap sheet at all. In addition, Hillary Clinton put a tweet out that said that we need to ban silencers, or go after silencers. The guy
[Thomas:] did not he a silencer on his gun. The fact of the matter is, is that I have not seen any prescription so far or suggestion so far that would have prevented this attack from happening.
[Vause:] That wasn't the question. What are Republicans prepared to do? Republican are responsible as well.
[Thomas:] But it was in the context specifically of this attack
[Vause:] No. He mentioned Sandy Hook. He mentioned San Bernardino. He mentioned Orlando a well. It's a question about the gun to this issue, this event rather. What are Republicans prepared to do? Because you keep saying, what's the answer? I don't know.
[Thomas:] You tell me what the answer would be
[Vause:] No. Republicans control the
[Thomas:] I'm telling you, I don't know
[Vause:] the Senate and the White House.
[Thomas:] legislatively what could have been done.
[Matthew Littman, Democratic Strategist:] I'll tell you something that could have been done. Why should a person be able to buy 50 guns? I mean
[Vause:] 33 in one year
[Littman:] Why is a person buying all those arounds of ammunition? There has to be a way to prevent people from doing this. It perfectly legal for somebody to do that right now.
[Sesay:] So, Matt, how hard are Democrats willing to fight for this, bearing in mind mid-terms are around the corner?
[Littman:] I think the Democrats are going to fight hard for it. The majority of the country wants some type of reasonable gun control legislation. Even fighting hard for the Democrats who aren't in the majority. And even though the majority of the country wants some type of gun control legislation, it's probably not going to happen, any real legislation, for a long time, at least not until Democrats are in power. In this country, the majority does not rule. The House of Representatives is controlled by Republicans. It's mostly controlled by southern Republicans. They do not want gun control. And as long as they're in power, there's not going to be effective gun control in this country.
[Thomas:] When you're talking about gun deaths, you're talking specifically, if you look at the numbers, about three different kinds of deaths. You're talking about number one, suicides.
[Vause:] Which is the main.
[Thomas:] Number two, you're talking about gang violence. And number three, you're talking about domestic violence. If you want to go after those gun deaths, if you want to reduce those deaths, those unnecessary deaths, then the prescription is something other than gun control.
[Littman:] That is not true. In every country Listen, every country, they have issues of domestic violence. They have issues of gangs. That's not unique to the United States. The thing that's unique to the United States is that everybody can get a gun, as many guns
[Thomas:] But the point is the violence going to happen regardless. If you want to kill yourself, whether you do it with guns or whether you do it-
[Littman:] That's not true. The United States has these killings, 500 people. Sandy Hook, first-grade kids. These are unique to the United States. They keep happening over and over again. They're not going to stop happening as long as these guns are
[Vause:] If it's a mental health issue, John, then why did the Republicans quietly roll back an Obama-era guideline from the Social Security Administration to advise anybody who's a recipient, who has mentally challenged issues or mental health issues that they immediately go on a background check? Back on February 28th.
[Thomas:] Look, if I were in charge, I'd bring back the nut house and I'd institutionalize a lot of these people. This guy has a pilot's license. OK? This guy had to pass a very strenuous mental health test.
[Sesay:] I guess we have a lot to discuss. But I'll say this again, which I brought up with John Thomas yesterday, why is the issue of gun control, common sense gun control in this country seen as a zero-sum game? Nobody's saying that people can't keep their guns. People are saying they want control. But why do Republicans frame it as we want to take away all your guns? That's not what people are calling for.
[Thomas:] To me, it's an issue of enforcement. The state of California right now, the state legislature just passed laws that would allow people convicted of gun crimes to be let out of prison early. That, to me, is completely insane. Once you have someone who's broken the law with a gun and has proven that they cannot enjoy that responsibility and keep the rest of us safe, then why are we so lax to throw them out of prison? I don't understand that. I mean, I think if you have limited laws and you enforce them, but you enforce them severely and strictly, then you're going someplace.
[Littman:] Can I answer this question, though?
[Vause:] We're going to move on.
[Littman:] The NRA has control over the Republicans in Congress, but they also have a fanatical following. And those people vote on gun issues. Specifically, I'm a Democrat. I vote on a bunch of issues. I'm not a one-issue voter. But on that gun issue, they have a very specific following. Those people are fanatical, and that's why those Republicans are afraid to go against them.
[Vause:] OK. A few hours after leaving Las Vegas, the president tweeted a video montage of his time with survivors and first responders. Here's a look. OK, Matt, big thumbs up in the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
[Littman:] And they did that to music.
[Vause:] Lee Greenwood, "God Bless the
[Usa." Littman:] I mean, Donald is just a weird guy. I don't know what to say. That is so strange to put that out today after all of that. I can guarantee he wasn't putting that out after his reception in Puerto Rico.
[Sesay:] John, why does this president seem to have trouble with escaping from moments where he's called to show empathy unscathed? Why is it always why is it always some kind of hangover, leftover from these moments? I mean, you'd think consoler-in-chief is a big part of his job.
[Thomas:] I don't think he has any trouble at all. Those people were thrilled to see him in Las Vegas.
[Littman:] You don't think Donald Trump has a problem consoling people?
[Thomas:] Not at all. And I think he puts these videos out because he communicates directly with the American people. Because whenever the news media talks about it, they're snarky.
[Vause:] Well, it was all about him, if you look at the video. But anyway. The secretary of state held a news conference on Wednesday, and it's not every day you hear a question like this.
[Rex Tillerson, Secretary Of State:] I'm not going to deal with petty stuff like that. I mean, this is what I don't understand about Washington. Again, I'm not from this place. But the places I come from, we don't deal with that kind of petty nonsense.
[Vause:] The bigger picture here, apparently, reports Tillerson's deeply unhappy. He had to meet with the vice president who convinced him to stay on and not resign. And somewhere along the line, Tillerson called Trump a moron. Matt, if Tillerson was fired or quit, would anyone actually know this? How much longer is it before he goes? Because, clearly, he can't stay.
[Littman:] There are a couple of things here. First of all, how many people in the Trump administration has offered a letter of resignation to Trump? I feel like every cabinet member has come in at some point and said, I'll resign, and Trump says, no, no, no, please don't resign. The reason why Tillerson wasn't fired today or didn't quite today was because Tom Price just left. So they can't just have everybody leave every single week. But there's been an incredible amount of turnover in this administration, number one. Number two, he didn't just call him a moron. He called him an F-ing moron. We are not allowed to say F-ing, on the show.
[Vause:] Yes.
[Littman:] And number three, Tillerson's doing a pretty bad job. He's not even filling all of the roles. Donald Trump, he goes to North Korea, Donald Trump tells him not to waste his time by tweet. He's been basically castrated in this job.
[Sesay:] John, you have to admit, did you ever think you'd live to see the day where they're holding a press conference to push back against reports he called the president a moron?
[Thomas:] I think it was taken out of context. Trump said, you think I have enough hairspray?
[Vause:] You came prepared. Brutal op-ed in the "Washington Post" a few days ago. It was entitled "Donald Trump's dog." Here's part of it: "When Rex speaks, Rex thinks he speaks for the USA. See Donald. Donald owns Rex. Rex is Donald's dog. Donald is loud. Donald is big. Donald is bigger than Rex. Donald is mean to Rex. When Rex speaks Donald tweets. Donald tweets like bird. Tweet Donald, tweet. Donald's tweets hurt Rex. Donald says, bad Rex, do not speak Rex. Rex, you do not speak for the USA." It just goes on and on and on. Fascinating read. John, for a guy who, two years ago, was ranked the 20th most powerful person by "Forbes" in the world, all of this stuff has got to be incredibly difficult for him to deal with.
[Thomas:] Yes. I hear that Dana Millbank is a comedy legend in France.
[Littman:] You know who else doesn't like Trump's cabinet? Trump. A lot of these people are leaving. The turnover in this administration is by far greater than in the Obama administration. There'no comparison.
[Thomas:] How about Clinton in the early years?
[Littman:] Yes, even Clinton in the early years did not have the same type of turnover Trump had. Not nearly to this extent. By the way, when we talk about Tillerson saying Trump is the moron, do you have quotes from Bob Corker, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who said basically, if it wasn't for Tillerson
[Sesay:] Mattis. Yes. And Kelly.
[Littman:] There would be complete chaos. This is the Republican leader of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
[Sesay:] A good day for you, then.
[Thomas:] A good day?
[Sesay:] I mean, if Corker says something like that I'm being it's not a good day, is my point, to have people in your own party coming out
[Thomas:] Corker's on his way out. Who cares?
[Littman:] The reason why Corker feels free to say what he wants
[Vause:] What are the implications around the world when the secretary of state of the United States of America believes that the president of the United States of America is a moron?
[Thomas:] He's denying that.
[Vause:] He didn't deny it. He did not directly deny it.
[Littman:] Watch it again. He definitely didn't deny it. I don't think Tillerson listen, I work in Washington a lot, and I talk to people in the administration. I talk to people who work with Donald Trump. And I'll tell you that's not a unique point of view.
[Vause:] Right. John and Matthew
[Sesay:] John Thomas is stumped tonight.
[Vause:] good to see you both.
[Sesay:] All right. Quick break here. It may have fallen from the top spot in the headlines but the investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. election is still going strong. There are new details we need to tell but next on NEWSROOM L.A.